HotToastyRag
Those of you who remember The Joker is Wild or other similar quiz shows in the 1950s and 1960s on television will be transported back in time during the film Quiz Show. Those of you who are a little younger will think Quiz Show is a very fascinating and creative film. But to my fellow young'uns, let me tell you this: it's a true story.This piece of social commentary that's sometimes hard to watch but has fantastic acting, well framed shots, and great scene transitions is directed by none other than Robert Redford, the master of all elements mentioned. Quiz Show really is an important movie even though it's the poster-child for the "people are mean" mentality. It was nominated for Best Picture, Director, and Supporting Actor at the Oscars, but John Turturro's and Ralph Fiennes's performances went unrecognized. But, it was released in 1994, the same year as Forrest Gump and The Shawshank Redemption, so it didn't really stand a chance during awards season.In the film, Christopher McDonald is the host of the incredibly popular television quiz show "21". David Paymer and Hank Azaria are the show's producers. Martin Scorsese is an executive to the show's product sponsor. Everyone has a stake in the ratings, so when successful contestant John Turturro wanes in audience popularity, the network asks him to "take a dive". Will he do it? Will he tell the truth that the show is being rigged—and, more importantly, will anyone listen? While I kept asking myself, "Why wasn't this Timothy Hutton?" every time Rob Morrow was on the screen, the other leads gave excellent performances, most of them more likable in this movie than in any of their other movies I'd seen. I was kept on the edge of my seat the entire time, and each time a new character's plight was introduced, my heart completely transferred its sympathy to him, a testament to Paul Attanasio's fast-paced and well-defined script. Every character was made to be both likable and unlikable; this is the type of movie that will make you talk about it afterwards.
jamariana
This is one of the greatest films no one has ever heard of. It is unbelievably underrated, considering that it was directed by the well-known actor-turned-director Robert Redford and features such familiar faces as Ralph Fiennes (Voldemort in Harry Potter for the younger audiences) and John Turturro, who is actually a fabulous actor, even though nowadays he is mostly famous for his kooky supporting roles in comedies. This is one of my favourite movies of all time. It is amazingly well-written, well-acted, and features an actually interesting and unique story. The film's tagline "Fifty million people watched, but no one saw a thing" also has to be one of the greatest of cinematic history, almost on par with Alien's "In space no one can hear you scream."While on the topic, my absolute favourite line from the film has to be "I have flown too high on borrowed wings." I haven't even watched the movie in almost 4 years, but I still remember that line better than most other things. I absolutely fell in love with this movie because of that line. It's an amazing film. So amazing that it's a real shame that more people don't know about it. It makes it that much more of a special, hidden gem, but still. It'd be great if this movie was better appreciated. I love recommending it to people. It's honestly one of the greatest films made in the 1990's and possibly among the top 500 films of all time. Bravo.
gridoon2018
The mere fact that the discovery of a TV quiz show as being "rigged" caused such a nationwide scandal in 1950s America is enough to speak volumes about the lost innocence of an era (a similar event today would barely raise an eyebrow). Robert Redford understands that, so he makes his points without hammering them across. "Quiz Show" is, above all, great entertainment: handsome production, terrific recreation of the period, attention to detail, pacey and unstuffy direction, and quite a bit of humor. Redford's handling of his subject is remarkably even-handed (with no clear-cut "good guys and bad guys"), and the acting is exceptional in every role, big or small (it's hard to choose a favorite performance). My biggest objection would have to be Ron Morrow's sometimes overdone accent - which is hardly a major complaint! *** out of 4.
AaronCapenBanner
Robert Redford directed this intelligent account of the real-life cheating scandal that rocked television quiz shows in the 1950's, with the show "Twenty-One" in particular being targeted by young lawyer Goodwin(played by Rob Morrow) who works for a congressional subcommittee that suspects something is wrong when long-time contestant Herbie Stempel(played by John Turturro) loses to popular and rich Charles Van Doren(played by Ralph Fiennes) and he cries foul, though his motivations are based on pride and money, rather than ideals. Paul Scofield plays Mark Van Doren, Charles' father, who can't understand what the fuss is all about... Most interesting and authentic recreation of that time makes potent observations about class, beauty, and favoritism, and doesn't let the audience off the hook either, making their culpability in the scandal quite clear in a clever fashion. Superb direction and performances in underrated film.
AD
