It's All About Money And Vanity In One Of The Best Movies Of 1994

Rating: 10/10 (26 April 2010)

Robert Redford's "Quiz Show" is a great drama about what happened behind the scenes of a very popular quiz show. Based on true events happened in 1958 we see two contestants of a quiz show and their contribution to one the greatest scandals of the 1950's. The first contestant of the show is Herb Stempel (John Turturro), a poor working-class Jew with a fantastic memory on several subjects. He's winning a lot of money on NBC's show "21" and people love him because he's a success on the show, answering correctly all the answers. But the show sponsors doesn't like him, thinking that he's ugly and boring and they ask to the show producer Dan Enright (David Paymer)to find someone different to beat Stempel and get more high ratings to the show. The answer to his problems is Charles Van Doren (Ralph Fiennes) a College teacher, born on a very influent and rich family. Now he's gonna compete with Herb on "21" but things are not what they appear to be.
Enright asks Stempel to "dive" for a good sum of money and lose the game. He offers to Stempel the question and the answer that's gonna make him lose everything and worse: he knows the correct answer and don't wanna be a part of it. Enright says that Stempel might have an future on TV, but he must lose. Stempel follows what Enright says and loses but nothing of what was promised to him happens and he gets mad. He starts to denounce the show and the producers saying that the show is a fraud, that everything is set up, and most shocking than this: the contestants got the questions and answers before the show be on the air.
Richard Goodwin is the responsible for investigating any quiz show problems. On his search he discovers that something is wrong with the show but he wants more. He approaches Charles Van Doren, the very popular contestant that's making the ratings of the network fly high. Van Doren's is starting to get upset with the investigation, after all he's a man of principles, he doesn't believe in fake acknowledge, he doesn't want to receive the answers before the show starts, and last but not least he's the son of the acclaimed writer Mark Van Doren (Paul Scofield) a man who taught everything from Literature until moral values. Here comes our questions, the viewers questions: Why Stempel gave in? Why Van Doren wanted to be part of this show? Why an educated man, with a good life needs to change his values to participate in a game show? Why Goodwin thinks that people would be interested in knowing that what happens behind quiz shows is a scam? And most important: Why the producers of the show couldn't make something real and opted for making an fraud?
It's all about money. Stempel wanted money, he obtained the money in the show, lost and wanted more, something that Enright promised. Van Doren's rich, teaches at Columbia and gets a great paycheck but he knows that he can get more. The "21" producers and the sponsor proved that with an interesting and charming contestant on the show they get more ratings and they get more money. In a particular scene after Van Doren's lose (in a question showed to him but that wasn't part of the scheme) the producers send Dave Garroway (Barry Levinson) to make an offer to Van Doren, NBC's offering a millionaire contract to him so that he could stay on TV.
It's all about vanity. Stempel and Van Doren's look was a decisive factor on why NBC and the sponsor preferred the richer guy over the Jewish guy. When a NBC's accountant (Griffin Dunne) tells the sponsor (Martin Scorsese) that Stempel's a very popular guy in Queens, the representing replies: "Queens is not New York" (meaning that he wanted Stempel out of the show. Van Doren is an more charismatic figure, Stempel's has a problem with his teeth and talks too much.
But this is also a movie about ethic, moral values, dignity or the lack of all these items. Probably many people will condemn Stempel's attitude after his loss on the program, claiming that he had a choice, and in the end his denounce was thrown back at him, making him a desperate person seeking revenge. In the case of Van Doren his name speaks loudly than everything. When a Commission is formed to investigate the "21" scandal, and Van Doren testifies in front of all Americans, all the judges of the Commission replies that what he did by telling the truth was courageous. There's differences between the same issue. The most absurd of the reasons of why the show has to be made of that unethical way is that the producers and the sponsors were working for the cause of education.
And with all of that, Robert Redford created a thrilling film, with a fast rhythm in the first hour and a slower and full of thoughts in the second hour. Paul Attanasio delivered one the best screenplays of all time, here you can find humor, drama, curiosity and really learn many things. "Quiz Show" has a great ensemble cast, with all actors giving their best. It's really difficult to say who's best. Certainly one of the Top movies of 1994. 10/10