Summary:
Quiz Show is a well-acted and carefully paced drama with a somewhat unsatisfying ending.
More DetailsAbout Quiz Show (1994)
Academy Award(R)-winner Robert Redford’s (1981, Best Director, ORIDINARY PEOPLE) critically acclaimed triumph, QUIZ SHOW, was cheered as one of the year’s 10 best films by more than 80 critics nationwide. It’s an exciting look behind the scenes at the thrills and high-stakes competition of TV’s hottest big-money game show! But fame and fortune become a hotbed of scandal when a Washington investigator (Rob Morrow — NORTHERN EXPOSURE) uncovers corruption beneath the quiz show’s glittering facade. The scandal implicates both the wildly popular champion (Ralph Fiennes — 1996 Academy Award(R) Best Actor nominee, THE ENGLISH PATIENT) and the disgruntled ex-champ (John Turturro, O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?). A powerful story with unforgettable performances — don’t miss this suspense-filled hit!
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, John Turturro, Hank Azaria, Rob Morrow, David Paymer
Directed by: Robert Redford
Runtime: 133 minutes
Studio: Hollywood Pictures Home Entertainment
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Review: Quiz Show
Robert Redford’s 1994 drama focuses on the game show scandals of the 1950s with the emphasis here being on the show Twenty One. Reigning champion Herbert Stempel (John Turturro) seems invincible but behind the scenes the producers are worried. The ratings are stagnating as the audience is somewhat bored of the same guy winning. It’s time for a change. Producers Dan Enright (David Paymer) and Albert Freedman (Hank Azaria) find a new contestant in teacher Charles Van Doren (Ralph Fiennes) and in meeting with him they offer to set-up the show so that he wins but Charles refuses. Enright then meets with Stempel and convinces him it is time to go and that he must answer a question wrong, one he blatantly knows. A furious Stempel reluctantly agrees on the understanding a career in television awaits him. Charles become the new champion and the darling of the nation while Stempel is left ignored and abandoned.
In a crucial moment at the outset, Stempel reluctantly answers a question wrong much to the horror of the audience, with the majority of the nation knowing the answer. Charles has the chance to win and just to make things difficult he is asked a question that was already been covered in an interview leading up to the game show. Charles knows the answer but he also knows this is a set-up. He has a decision to make and Charles chooses glory and the love of the nation that follows. After that, the producers are keen to keep him as champion, it’s what the nation wants, so Charles goes through the questions before each show, learning the answers to the ones he doesn’t know. Meanwhile, Richard Goodwin (Rob Morrow), a lawyer and top student at Harvard, begins to investigate Twenty One when Stempel fails in a lawsuit against the network after they turn their back on him. As Goodwin digs deeper he begins to unearth extreme corruption amongst the network and the game show but can he bring the cheats to justice and how far does the deception go?
Redford’s drama is a fascinating story carried along well by three great leads in Turturro, Fiennes and Morrow. When the scandal becomes public knowledge at the end it will vary amongst the audience about how far sympathies extend. Is the blame completely with the network, the producers or even the contestants who finish up as victims to a degree but ones that were willing to assist in cheating for the money and the fame? I can only imagine the outrage this would have caused back in the fifties. In the UK it was a huge scandal in recent years when Charles Ingram cheated in winning the top prize on Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
Quiz Show is a well-acted and carefully paced drama with a somewhat unsatisfying ending. This isn’t a negative reflection of the film, just a testament to how some cheats get away with their crimes while others are left behind to suffer ignominy.
Verdict: 4/5
