Ralph Fiennes

I occasionally travel for work. During these trips, I take advantage of spare time to squeeze in as many movies as I can, particularly ones that I know my wife wouldn’t want to sit down and watch with me. One night, late in my hotel room, I was trying to pick a movie I hadn’t seen before. It is often difficult to pin one down because my mind instantly floods with movies that I would like to see. After much thought one night, I finally settled on a movie my brother mentioned a few times.  Well, after watching this film I was a little troubled. Not because of its content, but because it had taken me so long to finally experience this film, a film with what I believe to be one of the most important messages.

1994 was a big year for movies. Amongst the box office hits of that year are The Shawshank Redemption, Forrest Gump, The Lion King, Pulp Fiction, True Lies, Dumb and Dumber, and The Mask. Of the top 10 of 100 grossing movies of ’94, we see several Oscar-winning and Oscar-nominated movies. It is not until we climb down the list to #56 that we arrive at a hidden gem of a film. Despite numerous Oscar nominations including Best Picture, it is nowhere near as profitable or popular as most of the movies that came out that year. A period piece about a game show set in the 1950s is not likely to bring in the crowds at a great rate. Unfortunately, I believe this to be a reason as to why many people do not recall this movie when they talk about some of the great movies of the last few decades. It seems to have been swept under the rug while the more popular movies of that year and decade have walked all over it for the last 22 years.

Quiz Show is based on the true story about a young lawyer in the 1950s who decided to investigate a game show that he believes to be rigged. The film is directed by Robert Redford, and stars Ralph Fiennes, Rob Morrow, John Turturo, Hank Azaria, and David Paymer. Not a lot of star power there to market the film besides Ralph Fiennes, who at the time had an Oscar nomination for Schindler’s List from the year before. But if you don’t recognize these actors by name, you certainly will recognize their faces. They usually play supporting roles in their films. This decision to not use a lot of big names benefits the movie by helping the audience focus on what the characters are talking about rather than focusing on who is doing the talking. Every actor brings their A-game, keeping the audience engaged throughout the film, wanting to know what was going to happen.

I was unfamiliar with the actual true story before viewing this film. This event is not historic to the extent that we would be found reading and revisiting this story decades later. I found this compelling because it spawned a question for me to ask: Why would Robert Redford (or any other director for that matter) want to make a movie about an event in history that has no apparent historical significance? On the surface, it is just a story where a game show was feeding answers to a certain contestant to be sure that they would win and return each week. Big deal, right? Well it was a big deal to Charles Van Doren, the game show contestant played by Ralph Fiennes.

Charles Van Doren has been put on the shoulders of society and labeled as a hero for demonstrating his intelligence on the game show each week in front of a nation-wide audience. He even makes it to the cover of Time Magazine. Charles begins to feel guilty when he realizes that he really hasn’t done anything to deserve the fame and fortune. Sure he has a Master’s degree in astrophysics and a Doctorate in English from Columbia University, but he had not used his hard work to build a foundation that was his own. His father was a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and novelist. His uncle was a Pulitzer Prize-wining critic and biographer. Both had earned their fame by their own hard work.  The message of the movie is this: if you come across great fortune, make sure you have contributed something of worth to society. This is the moral center. Should we be comfortable with accepting fame and fortune for something that came too easy? Is that necessarily wrong?

I think this film’s message is more relevant today than it ever has been, and should be discussed more. With talk of millennials wanting life to come easy and big paychecks to fall into their laps right out of college, I believe this movie would help to improve the mindset of many. It fuels my desire to contribute something to society rather than the mere appearance of doing so. As much as Charles was praised by society, it was hard for him to accept the fact that he, unlike his father, had done nothing of his own merit to earn his fortune. It is rare nowadays to watch a movie and not have the message either shoved down your throat or have it be trite and overdone. Common themes such as good vs. evil, loyalty to family and friends, staying true to yourself etc. are fine. I am not saying these are weak messages and that a movie cannot present these in an edifying and entertaining manner. But what makes Quiz Show’s message so compelling is the fact that it is not presented in a black and white manner.

This kind of discussion needs to be more prominent especially among the younger generations. Quiz Show is a movie that should no longer be overlooked. The story is compelling, the acting is superb, and the message is one that I will never forget.