Quiz Show
User Score
8.0 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 25 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 24 out of 25
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 25
  3. Negative: 1 out of 25

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  1. ChristopherJ.
    Mar 20, 2007
    9
    A fascinating inspection of behind-the-scenes integrity of Western entertainment. Entertaining rising action, a gut-wrenching climax and reasonably satisfying resolution.
  2. NathanT.
    Aug 11, 2006
    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
  3. JeremyS.
    Mar 1, 2003
    10
    This movie was awesome. Anybody who likes true stories will love it.
  4. AaronS.
    Dec 31, 2002
    9
    One of the most educational and original films ever made! Only knock is that it feels a tad long... but who cares?
  5. GilbertM.
    Oct 2, 2002
    9
    Wonderful, hypnotic true-life story. It's even topped and tailed by different versions of Mack the Knife. Watch it. Damn you.

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
88 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 13 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 13
  3. Negative: 0 out of 13
  1. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    88
    Robert Redford has directed Quiz Show as entertainment, history, and challenge.
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  2. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Desson Thomson
    80
    As taut, sleek and guiltily comfortable as the classic Chrysler automobile we see at the beginning, Quiz Show is built for entertaining road performance.
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  3. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Rosenbaum
    80
    Robert Redford's best and richest directorial effort.
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