Published by
Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
With many films ripped from tabloid scandal, “I, Tonya” being one example, filmmakers approximate a grabby kind of cinematic tabloid energy while toying with the received public image of its notorious subject. That way it’s exciting to watch, even if it comes up short in finding any interesting psychological layers or ambiguities. “May December” succeeds, in its destabilizing way, with a different approach. Director Todd Haynes and screenwriter Samy Burch base their fictional story on a real one: that of middle school educator Mary Kay Letourneau, convicted of second-degree rape of one of her …