Fascinating funny start, bland middle part and a predictable ending.

Rating: 6/10 (11 August 2018)

This movie should have been at least an half hour shorter and should have ended with a bit more spark.
Acting is great though. Especially John Turturro and Ralph Fiennes perform excellently. But they cant save this movie from becoming a bit bland half way through. Still it is an enjoyable watch, but I must admit that although I have seen it several times I start skipping some parts in the middle. The story isnt very shocking to say the least, but it has become a fascinating movie nonetheless, that is to say the first half of the movie.
The storyline: John Turturro, looks like a nerd and wins every quizshow episode. But the advertisers want someone younger and more attractive looking to boost the ratings. Enter Ralph Fiennes, a succesful white hansom teacher, who gets the answers to the questions in order to quarantee that he'll stay on the show in order to keep the tv ratings high. Will they find out the deceit? That is the suspense.
Robert Redford succeeded in a beautiful portrait of the fifties, a period in which television was what the internet is nowadays.The sweetness and innocence of that period is portrayed beautifully, but the drama is lacking in this story and on top of that the movie lasts over 2 hours. For first time viewers this would be recommended if they wanted to see a feel good story about innocent fraud by a tv show quiz host.
Could have been better. Nice anyway, but somewhat slow.