The Darwin Awards
Tags: comedy, flashback

Plot synopsis:
The movie opens with a shot of a man in a car with a JATO rocket strapped to it. The relevance of the opening isn't explained for some time as the movie shifts gears to a detailed look into the life of Michael Burrows, a criminal profiler for the San Francisco Police Department. Much of the film is shot in a documentary style, ostensibly as a part of a dissertation by a film school grad who follows Michael through the movie. Fired from the force after his haemophobia lets a murderer get away, he drifts about in a deep depression for several weeks before coming up with a way to combine his obsession with the Darwin Awards with his talent for profiling: help insurance companies detect, before they're sold insurance policies, people that are likely to end their own lives accidentally. After impressing a manager at the insurance company with his talent for profiling, he's paired up with Siri, a specialist in 'weird' insurance cases.Siri and Michael travel the country investigating several legendary examples of stupidity on behalf of the insurance company, such as the above mentioned JATO rocket car, not all of which would qualify as 'Darwin Awards'. For example, a pair of men who are attempting to ice fish get frustrated and try to use a stick of dynamite to blast a hole in the ice only to have their trusty black lab fetch the stick of dynamite, run back to their brand-new SUV, and sink it to the bottom of the lake without either man being killed. As they investigate those and other cases, Michael tries to find a common factor in these people; the closest the movie gets to an explanation is a confused monologue by Siri about insurance companies always denying claims and driving people insane.Ironically, Michael narrowly avoids becoming a Darwin Award winner throughout the movie. In one instance, he and Siri are stranded out in the middle of nowhere on a cold winter night. Desperate for warmth, he attempts to set a fire with gasoline to get warm only to blow up his own car. In a later scene, Siri confronts Michael, accusing him of being so obsessed with the Darwin Award winners because he suspects he's one of them.A twist of fate leads to Michael finding out where the murder suspect he let get away lives. As he attempts to videotape the man in his home by rappelling down the side of his building, the film school student is seen for the first time. He, too, is hanging on the side of the building by a rope- with the other end of the same rope Michael is dangling by. The stone vase the pair is anchored by inches closer to the edge as the serial killer taunts them from the roof, slicing open his own hand in an effort to trigger Michael's haemophobia. Michael is able to overcome his haemophobia, defeat the serial killer, and live happily ever after with Siri.-----------KrystelClaire's summaryThe film opens with desert scenery, and within it, a secondary road. A dude with a pink sports car uses a JATO engine to drive. Fade to black, and sound of the car crashing onto something.A voiceover explains the idea behind the Darwin Awards, given to people who did something so stupid which killed them, and so, removing themselves from the possibility of passing their dumb genes onto their offspring. Cut to a skyscraper, where aggressive executive Chris Hunter (Alessandro Nivola) shows off to two of his friends (Ross Patterson & Russell Steinberg) to prove that the glass is unbreakable and bullet-proof. He takes a cushion and jumps... as it happens to his death.Cut to Michael Burrows (Joseph Fiennes), a criminal profiler for the San Francisco Police Department. It's decided that a documentary will be done about the way he works, so a cameraman (Wilmer Valderrama) will follow him everywhere. Two other detectives (Adonal Foyle and Tom Wright) wonder if the director should be there. Michael finds him a nuisance. He remembers when he realised that he can focus more than anyone else - on fourth grade, Michael (Max Common) realised that one of his fellow students (Vincent Brubaker) was the culprit of a prank, and so the whole class was punished without going out to the playground for the whole year. The boy hit Michael in front of his friends (Elias Stefanek, Zosha Stefanek & Emma C. Taylor) to make him not betray him, Michael's nose bled, he felt dizzy and passed out. It was found out that he had haemophobia - fear of blood.Michael and the film maker are followed by a serial killer (Tim Blake Nelson). Michael is reading a book about his condition, but as he finds it useless, he throws it in a rubbish bin. He says that he's already done the killer's profile: a short man with literary studies. Michael realises that the killer is following them and he arrests him. As the film maker doesn't want to call the police - he would have to let go of his camera - that gives the opportunity for the killer to attack Burrows. Burrows handcuffs him anyway, but in the ensuing fight, the killer's nose bleeds. Michael passes out, the killer runs away and he punches the film director.The film director keeps on recording Burrows, now expelled from the police because of his illness. Michael keeps on investigating from home - the cue is given by all the bills he has to pay, including insurance. He talks to an insurance executive (Kevin Dunn) to get a job with his company analysing risk-taking people. At first, the exec doesn't pay much attention, but Michael is able to rip his life apart describing every detail: his lovers, his spending habits, his use of slips as underwear which is causing fertility problems for him. Michael thinks that he will be able to profile people who take stupid risks. Michael also gives the example of fat men (R.J. Owens, Bruce Lee Sage & Bob Sáenz) who use soap bars in the shower, and when they try to pick up the bar, they die because they slip in the shower. Finally, the exec decides to give Michael an opportunity, as there are weird cases all over the United States which are costing the company millions. Michael doesn't want to travel, but he has to take the opportunity as it is.He is paired with Siri Taylor (Winona Ryder), who investigates weird death cases. She is investigating a wacko cases in which Emile Travers (Ty Burrell) died in a freak case. There is blood all over the place, so Michael faints once again. The Zippy Cola dispensing machine won't work, so he tries to take the can of cola he's already paid for by introducing his arm through the slot, as he does with another dispensing machine which offers snacks. In the latter case he's successful, and steals a snack. He gets stuck, and the shopping mall where he's at closes for the night - and one of the cleaning men can't help him because he's wearing huge headphones as protection against the noise of the cleaning machine. Moreover, the mall is closing for the whole weekend. So Emile tries to pull his arm out. He finally succeeds in releasing himself, but the dispensing machine stumbles back and forth, and finally falls to the ground, smashing Emile as though he were a bug. As with the case of the jumping executive, Michael can picture himself being in that person's shoes doing the weird things that person did. Michael guessed that she had counted the coins and then falls to the ground.Siri thinks that the legs of the Zippy Cola machine were faulty, so the insurance company will have to pay, but Michael proves otherwise, saving Zippy Cola millions of dollars.Then, they go to Olson, Minnesota, to prove that the car robbery was fake, because in 32 there weren't any robberies there. Michael takes his own cutlery with him.Michael focuses on the display fish on the wall of the owner of the stolen 4x4, Mr. Bob Sparrow (Max Perlich) while his wife Mrs. Sparrow (Mary Saudargas) offers them tea and biscuits. The only description he gives of the criminals is "weird men from the city". They go to a frozen lake. As Siri believes that accidents happen out of the blue, they argue. Siri walks on the ice; she slips down and lands on her back - that way, she realises that there's a frozen fish in a tree. Mr Sparrow is going through his midlife crisis, and buys the expensive car. One drinking day spent with his buddy Tom (Chris Penn), bored to death, and they decide to use dynamite to fish out of boredom. They are crappy dynamite users, so they use one to break the ice. But the dog of one of them brings them their dynamite. They run away, they even try to shoot the dog Max, but Max leaves the dynamite under the brand new car. When it explodes, that's the end of the car, and Mr Sparrow falls onto the hole and into the freezing water river. His buddy tries to take him out using his shotgun, which wounds him a little bit. So they throw it in the lake, which immediately freezes again. The police take the car out of the river. Michael thinks that Siri found the key to the crime with sheer luck, but Siri says that sometimes to have to take the risk of making a fool of yourself to accomplish things. Michael thinks that bravery equals stupidity many times.Michael and Siri visit the wounded friend onto hospital.They leave for Wendover, Nevada to investigate the disappearance of the wacko driver from the beginning. If they prove that there was a suicide attempt, there's no obligation for the company to pay.Harvey Weston (David Arquette) likes shooting at old cars with his friend Stan (Brad Hunt).He's the man driving the pink car at the beginning. They are close to a gas station where Joleen (Juliette Lewis) works. Harvey admires a flashy red sports car. Joleen and Harvey make love, and Michael imagines himself making love to Joleen.Harvey and Stan buy Army tools from two ex-Army soldiers (Myth Busters Adam Savage &Jamie Hyneman). There are grenades, masks... but they finally buy the engine of a military jet. Harvey drives the car with the intention of "being on TV". The engine is designed to empower jets of 200 tonnes, but Harvey's Chevrolet was only two. The car ended being at 650 kilometers per hour. He can't stop the car because the tyres melt at 400 km/h and the hand brake is ineffectual. He turns right, which causes the car to fly at 30 meters high until it crashes against a small steep. Mr. Pearlman (Richmond Arquette) watches it, and thinks it's a UFO. Mrs Pearlman (Nora Dunn) thinks that her husband is eccentric, and that he was distracted by they two quarrelling children (Allie Busch & Matthew Busch). The married couple talk to Siri and Michael. Siri refuses to pay insurance for somebody who has done such a daredevil thing.They argue. Siri kisses him passionately to give him an opportunity to talk to a cashier called Zoe (Robin Tunney), pretending to split up with Siri. Siri thinks Zoe is desperate for sex and that she'll offer some "consolation" to Michael.Michael ties himself with a weird harness in the shower, but it gets stuck. As usual, the film director won't help him, so Siri, in revenge, showers his camera. At that moment is when Joy phones him. Michael tells her he'll phone her in a minute, and Siri leaves him there.Siri thinks that Michael is obsessed with the Darwin Awards because he's afraid he'll die in a stupid way.A female executive, Carla (Julianna Margulies), in a plane is shown how the automatic pilot works by the pilot (Rod Arrants) himself. That gives her an idea: while driving a van she leaves the driving seat. She turns the automatic pilot on and then gives a blow job to her lover Henry (Tom Hollander). They cause a car driver (Debbie Brubaker) and a lorry driver to swerve wildly. The van crashes into a dentist (Josh Kornbluth)'s office, who was trying to calm down a panicky patient, Mr. Harris (Mickey Breitenstein). The intrusion of the van causes the dentist to hurt Mr Harries, who sues him. However, the marks of the executive's teeth on the dick of her partner are proof enough.They drive to another location; they get lost and stuck in the middle of nowhere. Siri's phone is out of battery. Michael's phone flies away because he was trying to get some network. They try to fight the cold night by burning some petrol, thus setting fire to the whole car. Only when the batteries of the camera are dead will the film director take the trouble to use his working mobile phone with network. Siri and Michael hit him for not speaking before.In Tacoma, Washington. Michael mentions two people who bring disgrace to others, but who are themselves immune to harm. Simon (Judah Friedlander) and his buddy Farley (Lukas Haas) go to a Metallica concert in a dirty van and already drinking some beer. Simon's mother (Nancy Clausen) wonders whether Simon has stolen money from her purse. They have to wait outside because the contact who is supposed to sell them their tickets doesn't show up. They try to buy the tickets from two fans (Jason Foster & Lindsay Benner) by giving them 200 bucks, marijuana and even their van. Simon remembers how Lisa Cummings sucked him off in that van, but complains that he's still a virgin.They try to jump the wall inside the concert's venue. Simon ends up hanging in a tree. He cuts the wing of the tree with his knife, intending to fall onto a bush. They smoke some joints while doing that. Finally, Simon falls onto his own knife. Farley pulls Simon tying him to the van with a rope. But when he's about to pull him, a spark from his joint falls onto his trousers. Waving his arms and legs trying to put that out, Farley leads the van to fall on top of Simon, squashing him. The members of Metallica stop playing and stare at the weird view of the falling van. The driver survives, but Simon is squashed like a bug.At the Deer Glen Motel, Michael smokes a joint to inspire himself. Michael is frustrated because he can't find any link to all those weird deaths. His job is secure, though, because he's saving the company so much money, as Siri tells him. Siri says that all the procedures in the insurance company lead to people quitting on fair claims.Michael fights with two bar patrons (Jerry Harrison & John Doe) who laugh about Harvey Weston and Sparrow. Siri is haunted by all those weird deaths, but she tells Michael that he should try to forget it all. The film director is imprisoned in the bathroom so that he can't record their conversation. They kiss and make love.Siri doesn't give any importance to that sexual relationship. Michael analyses her passion for one-night stands because her father abandoned her when she was a child. She pretends to cut herself to show the blood to him. He falls to the floor but then, it was only ketchup. A couple who are reading books (Michael Horowitz & Cynthia Horowitz) asks him whether he's all right.The cameraman advises Michael to forget about Siri. At that moment, in their hotel room, Michael watches a reporter (Mike Sugerman) talking about the serial killer who has just killed again in South Beach. He realises that the victims were all reading books. He asks the film director to check that clue in his videotapes. The killer was carrying a beat poet's book in his pocket.Michael leaves for San Francisco and an ex-workmate lets him in. The film director phones Siri, who watches the scene and describes it to him.They go to Lawrence Ferlinghetti's book shop. When they finally talk to him, they lead him to a weird book buyer who tries to pass as a beatnik.Michael hangs himself from a rope and records with the director's heavy camera the killer's apartment from a window. His bloodied boots are there. Siri insists on calling the police, but Michael refuses. The film director hangs himself as well with a smaller lighter camera, which proves to be too heavy for the stone fountain which they have tied the rope to. They tell Siri to go up to the rooftop and secure the fountain.The killer watches them and he goes up to the rooftop and attacks Siri there, who is putting more weight inside the stone decoration. Michael gives his heavy camera to the film director. The imbalance in the weight makes the film director go down and Michael up. He reaches the rooftop and pulls the killer, holding onto his shirt. They all reach the street softly because of the new weight imbalance.Once there, the killer asks Michael why he didn't kill him by letting him go from a height, but Michael said that it was just a reflex on his part. However, the decoration mold falls down onto the killer, who just says that he won't ever go on a drinking binge again. The killer is squashed.The film director gets onto the ambulance recording it. The paramedic (Josh Charles) doesn't want to let him record because of the insurance, but Michael and Siri won't tell on himMetallica dedicates a song to Simon, while his friend watches it from backstage in a wheelchair. He's so dumb that he lights a lighter close to the pyrotechnics which are to be used later for the concert.

Review: If you were to lose the totally unnecessary documentary film maker and the ridiculous, cartoon-like serial killer, the movie would have benefited.
Choose "The Darwin Awards" if you want a relaxing afternoon or evening watching a fun film with enough laughs to make you walk away satisfied.
At the end, he said, "You picked a winner this time." One criticism I read was that there was no chemistry between Joseph Fiennes and Winona Ryder.
Sarcastic but cute give and take in a conversation is not easy to write, but the writers succeeded here.Fiennes's range is wide: all the way from well-acted serious films such as "Luther" and particularly, "Leo," to this light and happy, very good-for-a-Saturday-afternoon provider of laughs..
Throughout the movie, David Arquette's character is straining to discover what it is, exactly, that drives an otherwise normal human being to acts of profound stupidity and danger.
The character's goal shifts from an attempt to discover a common profile for these people into something more personal and real.However, the movie ultimately fails on this premise.
We're all familiar with the Darwin Awards, a website started by Stanford molecular biologist Wendy Northcutt to humorously recognize extremely stupid acts that lead to self-inflicted, accidental death.
Director Finn Taylor has made a couple of refreshingly oddball films (Dreams with the Fishes, Cherish) but The Darwin Awards fails on almost every level.The concept was probably doomed from the outset by the decision to incorporate a bunch of award-winning events into a linear storyline, including madcap crime investigations and a little love interest.
Casting Joseph Fiennes and Wynona Ryder as the leads was the second mistake, as neither of them was right for their parts (and despite their efforts, came off very flat).
Follow that with writing that is simply not very clever and you have a disappointing movie.The vignettes do include some great casting choices, including Chris Penn, Tim Blake Nelson, David Arquette and Metallica.
The cast is stellar; Joe Fiennes and Winona Ryder are the headliners, and there are many cameos, including Tim Blake Nelson and Robin Tunney, who starred in director Finn Taylor's last movie, Cherish.
In addition, Chris Penn (who unfortunately passed away just the day before the premiere of this film at Sundance), Wilmer Valderrama, Alessandro Nivola, Ty Burrell, Juliette Lewis, Tom Hollander, and David Arquette were some of the other cameos included.Joe Fiennes plays a police detective who is thrown off the squad due to his propensity to faint at the sight of blood.
He and Ryder's character get together and try to find out what makes these "Darwin Award" winners tick.
I really didn't care whether or not the two of them "got together" or not.There are a few laughs in the film as the Award "winners" demonstrate what they did to "win." The problem is that they just didn't effectively sum up the movie.
He seems pointless.All in all, we had a great time at the screening; Fiennes, Valderrama, Burrell, and Brad Hunt, as well as Finn Taylor, and the author of the book (The Darwin Awards) led the Q and A session afterward.
My recommendation is that if you want to see a good Finn Taylor film, rent "Cherish"..
With a stellar A list cast and great ideas behind it I had expected The Darwin Awards to be a romping comedy but every scene left me feeling more confused.
The whole production has a cheap made in my basement feel about it as if Finn Taylor had hired a bunch of school boys to do the editing and special effects.The Darwin Awards books and website has a very large collection of stories.
This movie was pretty simplistic...did the people who rated it that bad want this to be an in-depth soul searching look into the darwin awards?
Unfortunately, I've noticed that a shocking number of people were disappointed with this film.Granted, Joseph Fiennes and Winona Ryder's characters being the uptight, overly cautious man and the free spirited, devil-may-care woman isn't a terribly original concept, but I felt that it was easy to get past considering how well they played their parts.
The movie is filled with re-enactments of actual Darwin Award cases, and despite most being gruesome, they're all filled with countless laughs.
While Fiennes' character wanted to find a way to prevent these Darwin cases, he realizes he can't save the world and learns the one ultimate truth of the universe: Sh*t happens....
The Darwin Awards, which is a real event, is an example of good film that died because of bad distribution and promotion.
I can't understand how such an enjoyable film, despite being lightweight, was buried almost without a trace.The leads Joe Feinnes and Winona Ryder (in her post shoplifting wilderness years) do good jobs in a tongue-in-cheek, yet serious role about investigating moronic actions that get people killed.I never get tired of watching what could be David Arquette's best performance.
The film is a riot...it really a lot of fun if you don't take it too seriously, yet realizing these are actual cases that have been part of the awards.The documentary that is being made as a fly on the wall for our two protagonists, serves as a humorous and effective way to present dramatic asides.
It is nice to see people like Nora Dunn and Juliet Lewis who don't work enough these days.Sadly, this was Chris Penn's last major film.
It is quite ironic that his last major work should be a film about the stupid ways that people die.
I have a feeling that Heavy Metal music fans often win Darwin Awards (awards for bizarre and stupid deaths).There's a good selection of popular songs on the soundtrack.If you don't expect too much in the way of coherence and can get into the silly spirit of the film, it can be enjoyable.Incidentally, you should keep watching to the end of the credits for one last joke at the end..
Winona Ryder was also great, you get the feeling she was quite spontaneous and relaxed (no wonder, next to a guy like Michael Burrows everyone can seem normal...).I won't get into too much detail, however, I would highly recommend this film to anyone who is looking for a good laugh, interesting plot, 'situational humor' and not an overrated cheap comedy we get every day on TV.
Joseph Fiennes (Shakespeare in Love) and Winona Ryder (Girl, Interrupted; Heathers) made a good team (with Valderrama in the background) to keep things interesting - and funny.This is clear evidence that explosives and military hardware should be kept far away from people who shoot guns, and foreigners with international drivers licenses should not be allowed on the road.
About the only different thing about this is the fact that the stunts are not real, and there's something of a plot line about an ex cop (Joseph Finnes), turned insurance investigator, who is obsessed about the actions of these mental dwarfs who seem to have a thing for acting really dumb.
The film does, however manage to get some nice screen time with some juicy cameos from the likes of Chris Penn (his last film before his unfortunate death some time ago),John Doe (from the L.A. punk band X),legendary Beat era poet & publisher Lawrence Ferlingetti,performance artist/writer Josh Kornbluth,and even Metal Gods, Metallica.
It wasn't that great -- however in my opinion this is the weird type of story that the next generation will pick up on and want to see for the death scenes, the sheer stupidity of these people who got themselves killed.And therein lies my biggest complaint.
The film needed less of the Ryder/Fiennes romance and more stupid human behavior resulting in senseless deaths.Years from now this oh-so-strange tale will be hot in cult-ish way.
People will point at some of the cameos, including Chris Penn's last movie.
Little did I know that the guys would make such a p_ss poor job at putting together a decent story, that the main actors would look so awkward in their roles, and that the guys I was looking forward to seeing in the movie (i.e. Chris Penn, the "MythBuster" guys, Juliet Lewis) are only doing cameos.Now don't get me wrong, it's not a bad movie, I gave it a decent 7/10 because it had it's moments, but considering it's potential, I was ...
Immediately, several TV & film studios jumped on the sensation, putting together productions like "Urban Legend" (1998), "Magnolia" (1999), "Myth Busters" (2003), "1000 Ways to Die" (2008), and "The Darwin Awards" (2006).
In other words, none of the stuff in this movie is true, despite what the title leads you to believe (visit the Darwin Awards website and click the "Urban Legend" link at the bottom).OK, if you can get past that, I think you'll enjoy the movie.
The plot is pretty original: an ex detective (Joseph Fiennes) and an insurance investigator (Winona Ryder) team up on a road trip that takes them cross country checking out some quirky claims, while each of them confronts their own personal quirks.It does a pretty good job of tying together the urban legends in a linear story with some romance, laughs, mystery and a nice moral statement.
In the end, it's great entertainment for an evening.Other films like this I recommend (dark comedies) are "Grand Theft Parsons" (2003), "Remarkable Power" (2008) and "The Last Word" (2008)..
Why do people let Finn Taylor keep making movies?.
(There are only three, the two aforementioned and "Cherish"; it's a small blessing that Taylor seems to take his time either writing, editing or -more likely- getting funding for his project, which have come out at four to five year intervals.) You may, like me, have been curious about this film due to your also having chuckled at the grotesque comedy of the Darwin award winners, but I will say in all honesty, this film does not do them justice.
So our main character in The Darwin Awards is a police profiler who faints at the sight of blood: comedy gold, because you know it is just soooo ironic, and irony is best when it isn't subtle and is poorly executed in annoyingly mannered performances.Then there is the 'intelligence' of the scripts, where you'll find, for instance, a serial killer complaining about the profiler quoting an overused line from a famous poem.
How exquisite, and yet in the midst of such a badly made film, one sees the difference between knowledge and practical wisdom.The Darwin Awards features a moronic and grating student documentary maker who is following the main character around, giving another 'clever' layer to the film, by annoying the viewer with those stupid camera frame lines that let you know when you're looking through the documentary filmmakers pov, versus all the other shots that aren't annoying hand-held drek.
Because I'm an irresponsible reviewer, I'll guess that this character is an unconscious avatar of Taylor's own self-doubts about his talent, and I'm hoping someone who knows and loves this man will play intellectual midwife to him and help him realize that he should stop making films, and maybe consider a profession more suited to his talents, which I'm sure are substantial, albeit not manifested in his cinematic work thus far.
I must admit that I like bad movies as long as they're entertaining on some level be it good writing, interesting story, or something else, but I can't think of a good thing about this movie other than the cast.
Also if the main character was Winona's character, it would have been much more entertaining.I just felt like there was no change in any of the characters by the end of the movie.
Joseph Fiennes came in as a robot and ended as a robot, Winona came in a nobody and left the same way, and Wilmer was always just an annoying plot device for the camera operators shakes to seem artsy and new.Been there, done that, and it looks better on someone else.The awkward love story was...awkward.
It was unnecessary in the context of the film and felt like it was just thrown in, because, "all good movies have a love story in there somewhere." Nice try, Finn Taylor..
"The Darwin Awards" is one of those direct-to-DVD movies that you watch, wondering why anybody bothered to make it at all.
Instead, we're stuck with a miscast Joseph Fiennes stumbling around like he's in an old screwball comedy with no discernible comedic timing, and he has about zero chemistry with co-star Winona Ryder, who deserves much better than this poor excuse for a comedy.
Joseph Fiennes awkwardly plays a police personality profiler turned insurance claims investigator who faints at the sight of blood and can't figure out social interactions.
He gets paired up with a no-nonsense insurance claims investor played by Winona Ryder, and they go cross country investigating and debunking the claims of various Darwin Award types who hurt themselves through their ridiculous actions.
So they surely don't qualify for the Darwin Award.Winona Ryder is the best here, sparkling and real.
The Darwin Awards are sarcastically given out in a publication of the same title to people who die in very stupid ways.
So, the movie's title is totally misleading.Second of all, the plot consists of an incredibly stupid, boring, and disjointed story about a guy (Joseph Fiennes) who happens to be interested in stupid deaths.
"The Darwin Awards" is based on the website that jokingly awards people who accidentally kill themselves or render themselves infertile via incredibly stupid acts (like juggling hand grenades) and thereby remove themselves from the gene pool.
"The Darwin Awards" is a funny dark comedy..
"The Darwin Awards" is a funny dark comedy.The plot: Michael Burrows (Fiennes) is obsessed with "The Darwin Awards" which is about people who kill themselves in the stupidest way possible.
They don't need to act.Once again, it's odd that such a big film goes straight-to-video, but it's better than the movie staying on some shelf somewhere collecting dust.Overall, "The Darwin Awards" is worth-seeing for the acting and the crazy stunts.For more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com.
Watch this movie purely to kill time or see Metallica in an unfortunate cameo, nothing more..
The Darwin Awards was too well written for the substandard acting of Winona Ryder and Joseph Fiennes who were very privileged to be given the main roles.
The Darwin Awards is a quirky little independent film, loosely based on the website & spin-off books cataloging the real-life stories of people who have suffered accidents caused by their own stupidity.
Any individuals who are killed are posthumously given a 'Darwin Award' for improving Mankind's gene pool by removing themselves from it.The movie stars Joseph Fiennes as a police profiler whose unfortunate tendency to faint at the sight of blood (he's phobic) causes him to get discharged from the force.
Together the two of them travel back and forth across America, examining various strange accidents.One of the things I liked most about this film is that the accidents that Fiennes and Ryder investigate are all based on well known urban legends, and such modern-day myths have always fascinated me.
Therefore, I got a huge thrill seeing several urban legends reenacted in The Darwin Awards.Although it's an independent production, the movie has an impressive budget and features many big name stars in cameos (including Chris Penn in his last role - he died the day before the film debuted at Sundance).
You see this movie because you've followed The Real Darwin Awards.
It's a movie about people who do things so stupid that they die in the process.
There is a scene in Darwin Awards with two stoned-out Metallica fans (Judah Friedlander is one) which is so laugh- out loud funny it could be spun out into its own movie.Winona Ryder is adorable in this movie.
Even with one of the great casts in the history of low-budget cinema, The Darwin Awards demonstrates that if you don't know the difference between having a great premise and having a real point, you can only make a mediocre film.Michael Burrows (Joseph Fiennes) is an obsessive and neurotic criminal profiler for the San Francisco police department who loses his job when he lets a serial killer escape.
Investigating the absurdly moronic behavior that results in Rube Goldbereque death and injury would be a great formula for a black hearted TV show where you could ladle social commentary and some romantic tension between Burrows and Taylor on top of whatever imbecilic and unintentional suicide they're looking into that week.As a 90 minute film, however, The Darwin Awards is never more than mildly amusing because it never figures out what is the point of its story.
And any film that features the Mythbusters can't be all bad.If you'd like a lighthearted take on a very dark subject that you'll enjoy more the less you think about it, go rent The Darwin Awards..
I liked the way that the film paid homage to the web site and even showed it so that others not in the know could enjoy the delights of the site.I was a bit disappointed in the star billing of David Arquette, I expected him to have a bigger role.
I know that he did take part in one of the more major "Darwin" stories but he wasn't really even close to being the main character.As far as the "awards" went, I would have liked to see more of them, maybe not as long as some of the big ones, little snippets like the one that starts the movie, I feel that this is the main reason people will want to watch the movie.The interpersonal relationship between the two main characters was somewhat interesting but I felt that it went a bit too far.