Graded Quiz

In the nearly three years of Heimlich Maneuvers, I've written a number of movies reviews. But aside from my overview of the James Bond movies, I always stuck to movies that were currently playing in the theaters. Recently, though, I've come to the conclusion that it doesn't necessarily matter if the movie is actually new or not; if I haven't reviewed it here, then it's "new" to me.

With that in mind, I'm stepping back tonight to 1994 to review director Robert Redford's movie Quiz Show, which I only just saw for the first time this week. This was a movie that's been on my "I should get around to that" list for a while. I'd had a few friends praise the story, the acting, and so forth. And it was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar.

Overall, I'd say it was a good movie. The acting was indeed top notch. John Turturro does his typically excellent job of building a quirky, but totally believable character. Ralph Fiennes nails one of his earliest roles with perfection. Rob Morrow takes what might have been a more thankless part as a legal investigator, and gives it some nuance. And the film is peppered with other good performances, big and small, from such as David Paymer, Hank Azaria, and others.

Robert Redford manages to keep the pace going well with his direction. But I'd have to say the script wasn't entirely up to the level at which the rest of the film was operating. The film never bores, but neither does it ever really engage you. There are some moments of good emotion, mainly in scenes with Ralph Fiennes' character and either his father or Rob Morrow's character.

The bulk of the movie, however, seems to play along like it wants to be almost a "whodunnit," even though there's no real mystery. When will our lead "detective" find the critical clues? Will he convince witnesses to come forward and testify? Well, these may be the trappings of a mystery, but waiting to see who is going to get caught in what lie isn't particularly compelling in this context. There's not really a crime at the core of this story. And it's an even less intriguing mystery if you have any familiarity with the real live events on which the story is based.

For some great performances and a number of good moments, I think the movie's worth seeing. But it's not hard to imagine how this movie failed to win the Oscar. (To The Shawshank Redemption at least; how it lost to the disingenuous piece of crap that is Forrest Gump, I'll never know. But that movie's a topic for another time, perhaps?)

In any case, I give Quiz Show a B-. Worth seeing if you're a fan of anyone involved in the movie, but not a Movie You Must See.