Interesting, Slick Story But Didn't Need Cheap Shots

Rating: 8/10 (23 March 2006)

The more I watch this movie, the more I see Robert Redford's (it's his movie) stamp on it for anything Liberal. It's unbelievable how much Left Wing propaganda is in this film.....yet I still like it and always find it very interesting. Perhaps because I vaguely remember this show on TV when I was a small kid and I vaguely remember the scandal attached to it. I certainly remember the name "Charles Van Doren."
Ralph Fiennes plays the handsome, wealthy Van Doren, a man TV executives preferred to feature weekly on their quiz show rather than a nerd like "Herbie Stempel," played wonderfully by John Turturro. Every actor is superb in here, from crooked NBC executives to the Stempel and Van Doren families. Veteran actor Paul Scofield plays Van Doren's father "Mark" and is a standout in that role.
The sad story, if this movie is true, is that the crooks basically got away with it, at least if you read the ending credits right after the movie ends. What injustice!
By the way, some of the Liberal cheap shots were shots against Eisenhower, Nixon and even Jesus! Well, that's Hollywood, but those political digs weren't necessary.