Engrossing and very well acted drama

Rating: Null/10 (3 February 2009)

This is an engrossing and very well acted drama chronicling corruption in a popular quiz show in the fifties. John Turturro is magnificent as Herbie Stempel, a Jew who claims that the aristocratic Charles Van Doren (excellent Ralph Fiennes) has been fed the right answers during the show. Robert Redford's motive is to suggest the loss of innocence in America with the end of the fifties and the impending arrival of the culture wars and civil strife. Whether an American audience in the fifties was that gullible is open to question however. The film is a trifle overlong but never boring. Recommended.
Overall 8/10