1. NathanT.

   10

   "Quiz Show" can proudly take its place as the most underrated of all great 90s films. Taken from a brief passage in Richard Goodwin's excellent "Remembering America: A Voice From the Sixties," it tells the story of corruption in a game show circa 1957. Howard Stempel, the Jewish working class intellectual played by John Turturro to perfection, is made to take a dive so that the good looking affluent Charles Van Doren can improve the show's waning ratings. Ralph Fiennes gives an incredible performance as a good decent WASP thinker; a man who has seen people do manual labor---as he was walking to his class on astrophysics or Germanic literature. Rob Morrow plays Dick Goodwin, the bright-eyed attorney who smells something totally afoul with the show and follows every lead he can with only nominal support from the government office where he works. Why does any of this matter now? The point is that the specifics of the quiz show scandal don't matter really, but there ramifications have been felt more than ever in the age of Enron and corporate malfeasance. This is Robert Redfiord's meditation on the slow death of everything America once stood for, yet he never indicts us as viewers. The ethical conflicts seen in the main characters, especially Van Doren, rise to the level of Shakespearian drama in parts. Also enjoy phenomenal supporting work from Mira Sorvino as Goodwin's wife ("You are like the Uncle Tom of the Jews," she says to him near the climax) and English actor Paul Scofield as Van Doren's father in a performance that was nominated for an Academy Award. All of these performances could have been nominated. They're that good. Above all though, "Quiz Show" succeeds on the most important level a film can: it's ridiculously entertaining.… Expand

   • Helpful? 0 of 0 users said Yes.
2. ChristopherJ.

   9

   A fascinating inspection of behind-the-scenes integrity of Western entertainment. Entertaining rising action, a gut-wrenching climax and reasonably satisfying resolution.… Expand

   • Helpful? 0 of 0 users said Yes.
3. Compi24

   8

   "Quiz Show" is a 1994 Best Picture Nominated film directed by Robert Redford. The film tells the true story of a Congressional investigator (Rob Morrow) who is soon wrapped up in a web of conspiracy surrounding a popular game show called "Twenty One". Now, the plot of the movie has always been something of interest to me because I always love a good quiz show now and then. The thought of a quiz show being rigged has entered my mind on occasion, and this film properly explores that subject in depth. One of the greatest aspects of this film is its performances from Ralph Fiennes and John Turturro. Turturro's character is the man who is told to "take a dive" because he is not as aesthetically pleasing as Fiennes' character, and their performances really help draw a line of contrast between the two of them. Rob Morrow also did a very good job in the film's leading role. The Academy-Award Nominated script is also something I found to be very well executed as well. There's some fairly memorable, compelling, and even at times amusing dialogue all throughout this screenplay and I truly enjoyed watching this story unfold on screen. Robert Redford's Directorial work really shines in his fourth film - he's proven himself to be a jack-of-all-trades. The movie also does an astounding job of exploring just how pivotal TV was to the American population during the 1950s. Overall, I felt that "Quiz Show" was a riveting period drama that presented a very fascinating look into the Game Show Scandal of the 1950s.… Expand

   • Helpful? 0 of 0 users said Yes.
4. lasttimeisaw

   7

   QUIZ SHOW is a BEST PICTURE nominee of Oscar Race of 1994, the fourth film with Robert Redford at the helm, and earned him a second Oscar nomination for BEST DIRECTOR, but overtly its popularity has waned compared with its more esteemed fellow nominees (FORREST GUMP 9/10; THE SHAWNSHANK REDEMPTION 8/10; PULP FICTION 9/10 and even FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL 7/10).
   
   The authentic case of a young lawyer takes on a lawsuit case against the television chicanery has its general appeal together with its well-crafted characterization of the disparaging facets of the people who are implicated, the film runs smoothly to warrant a step-by-step incitement of moral inclination (either towards the contestants or the industry upper-echelon… Expand

   • Helpful? 0 of 0 users said Yes.

See all 13 User Reviews