FilmJudge - Quiz Show

REVIEW

Quiz Show
1995
Certificate: 15 | Runtime: 130 | Director: Robert Redford
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Rob Morrow, John Turturro

Herbert Stempel (Turturro) is the star contestant on 1950s game show "Twenty-One". However, after his popularity peaks, he is forced to take a dive and lose to photogenic academic Charles Van Doren (Fiennes). Richard Goodwin (Morrow), a young lawyer, is suspicious about Stempel's sudden lapse in form, and begins to investigate behind the scenes at "Twenty-One", discovering a web of deceit and hidden agendas.

Quiz Show has a specific story to tell, and it succeeds on that front. However, it lacks tension and fails to enthral in a way it could and maybe should have done. Having said that, the performances are all rather fine, the direction is fresh and the film handsomely captures the mood of the times. Its message isn't exactly profound or novel either, but it gets it across well enough.

Even though Fiennes's American accent isn't always precise, he manages to portray Van Doren with some skill. The difficulty of the character is that he's conflicted throughout the film, not only because of what he does on the quiz, but he's also conscious of living in his father's shadow. Turturro is also excellent and achieves the near impossible feat of generating some sympathy for the snivelling Stempel - you largely hate him, but you can also see his frustrations and vulnerabilities. Morrow is also decent, although the character isn't well written enough to have you believe he's the Harvard educated genius he's supposed to be. The supporting players are also very fine, particularly Paul Scofield as Mark Van Doren, and David Paymer and Hank Azaria as television producers.

Redford's direction is enthusiastic, and he never misses an opportunity to show the national interest in game shows back in the 1950s, and how sensational these events really were. The look of the film is wonderful, with costumes, make-up and even sets designed to give an air of authenticity. And yet, these advantages also indicate the biggest problem with Quiz Show - it may as well be a documentary.

We know right from the start about the shady goings-on, so the entire film becomes an exercise in watching Goodwin eventually discover these things for himself. It's undeniably interesting and well presented, but it never really grabs or motivates you to unravel anything for yourself. The slow process by which Goodwin comes to his conclusions and presents them to a Congressional subcommittee becomes too elongated, and the film seems stretched in its final third. The messages of corporate greed and corruption in high places are nothing new, but at least they're clearly expressed, and the anguish the events caused for the main participants is obvious.

There is a lot to like about Quiz Show, and it certainly covers an issue few other films have done, or are likely to in the future. However, what could have been a biting examination of one of the most sensational occurrences in television history is instead a competent run-through of events, and one which never engages as much as it should have done.

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