Movie Review: Quiz Show (1994)

Synopsis: When the losing contestant on a popular 1950s game show accuses the show's producers of rigging the outcome by feeding their preferred champion the answers, a young congressional attorney decides to investigate. He suspects the allegations have merit. However, his primary witness has limited credibility and network executives are predictably uncooperative with his investigation.

The movie is a dramatization of the 1950s Quiz Show Scandals.

Who's in it? The movie stars John Turturro, Rob Morrow, Ralph Fiennes, Paul Scofield and Hank Azaria.

Review: My wife isn't feeling well today so after doing some chores around the house, I looked for a movie to watch while she was taking a nap. It has been a while since I last watched Quiz Show, so I selected it and wasn't disappointed by that choice.

The thing I found I liked about this movie was the uphill battle the investigator, Dick Goodwin (Morrow), faced. While it was obvious his top witness (Turtorro) was telling the truth, his personality and obvious grudge against the show made it easy to understand why he wasn't necessarily believable. Plus, it wasn't as though the other contestants were willing to come forward and tell him the full truth.

His relationship with contestant Charles Van Doren (Fiennes) was also intriguing because their budding friendship complicated things. Van Doren had the potential to be the witness that could crack things open for him but telling the truth would also destroy Van Doren's reputation. As they became closer, the latter obviously became more difficult for him.

Van Doren's personal struggle was also interesting to watch because there were times when it was obvious he was feeling guilty (even to the point where he was secretly trying to sabotage his own success). Between the benefits of his fame and fear of disappointing his successful father (Scofield), it was hard to tell if he would ultimately choose to do the right thing or keep his secret. This, in turn, kept the movie interesting by preventing it from becoming as predictable as I remembered.

Final Opinion: I don't know how historically accurate the film is, but it is an entertaining movie that, at minimum might get you interested in learning more about the real scandal.

My Grade: A

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Here are some reviews of other movies from 1994:

Movie Review: Leprechaun 2 (1994)

Movie Review: Speed (1994)

Movie Review: Car 54, Where Are You? (1994)

Movie Review: The River Wild (1994)