Movie Review King of Kong A Fistful of Quarters

King of Kong A Fistful of Quarters 

Directed by Seth Gordon

Written by Documentary 

Starring Billy Mitchell, Steve Wiebe 

Release Date August 17th, 2007

Published November 17th, 2007 

What kid, alive and aware in the 80's doesn't remember Donkey Kong. Arcades all over the country teemed with kids lining up to run Mario over those barrels, up those ladders and finally all the way to his girl on that platform where inevitably Kong would snatch her up again and the game would start again. The next rounds would feature killer springs, tiny fireballs, elevators, pulley systems and more ladders. When the game was made available for the original Nintendo system my friends and I would spend several frustrating hours playing that stupid game, my frustration should tell you how well I ever did at it.

That said, I do recall a friend of mine who made it all the way to the 21st screen, scored over a million points and the game stopped because there was no further to go. According to the documentary The King of Kong A Fistful of Quarters what my buddy did was set a world record. Of course, when we played it rarely seemed like anything more than a diversion, not something you took the time to document or even remember accurately. The stars of this documentary however, consider my words blasphemy. They have spent their lives keeping track of scores on video games, documenting them on videotapes shown to men who call themselves judges or video game referees.

One sad soul spends days at a time watching videotapes of people playing videogames in order to authenticate what he believes is an important world's record. As condescending as I'm sure I sound toward these men, and indeed they are all men, what is stunning about this documentary from director Seth Gordon is how compelling and even fascinating these characters become.

Billy Mitchell has long been the all time Donkey Kong champion. His high score has sat at the top of the rankings for more than a decade. Yes, there are video game championship rankings, documented by an Ottumwa Iowa arcade owner named Walter Day. Mitchell has lived this accomplishment for most of his life. Kong along with his perfect score on Pac Man in the mid-nineties, are the defining moments of his life. The undeservedly arrogant, mullet wearing Mitchell is also a successful businessman in Florida who still plays Donkey Kong, longing to break the million point barrier.

Steve Wiebe, on the other hand, didn't pick up his Donkey Kong obsession until he was laid off from his job as a high school science teacher. Long a man with an obsessive personality, Steve's family has long suspected he may have obsessive compulsive disorder or may even be slightly autistic. Whatever Steve's issue it drives him to do things like play Donkey Kong for days on end in hopes of breaking Billy Mitchell's record score. As Seth Gordon documents in King of Kong Steve does break the record but it's not nearly as simple as one might imagine.

Controversy erupts, was his machine that he plays in his garage, street legal or modified. Was the videotape of his game used to authenticate his score tampered with? If these questions sound inconsequential, director Gordon does an amazing job demonstrating how much they matter to this oddball collection of humans spread literally across the country from Steve in Redmond Washington to Walter in Ottumwa, Iowa to Billy Mitchell in Hollywood Florida. As goofy as it sounds I guarantee you will be riveted by Steve's reaction and what happens next.

Seth Gordon adopts just the right level of skeptical distance and non-judgemental humor. You sense that Gordon is on our side in thinking how goofy this competition is. However, as he indulges these strange personalities, you must admit that a compelling story of rivalry and obsession emerges that for 84 minutes keeps you fascinated and wanting to see what happens next. Mock if you must but I recommend you take a look at King of Kong A Fistful of Quarters and try not to be sucked into the war between Steve and Billy and Donkey Kong.

Funny and fascinating, King Of Kong A Fistful of Quarters is one of the most unique and compelling documentaries I've ever seen. A must see.

Movie Review: Four Christmases

Four Christmases (2008) 

Directed by Seth Gordon 

Written by Jon Lucas, Scott Moore, Matt R. Allen, Caleb Wilson, 

Starring Vince Vaughn, Reese Witherspoon, Mary Steenburgen, Jon Favreau, Tim McGraw, Sissy Spacek

Release Date November 26th, 2008 

Published November 27th, 2008

It's just not that funny. I watch and I want to laugh. I feel for that tickle at the back my throat. I try and force it a few times. It just doesn't come. You know why? Because, Four Christmases starring Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon just isn't funny. The trailer was funny. I laughed a few times during the two and a half minute teaser.

I watched the movie, nothing. No laugh. Not even a chuckle. I sighed deeply once and it could have been mistaken as a laugh. But no. The movie isn't funny.

Brad (Vaughn) and Kate (Witherspoon) have been together for three years with no want for marriage or children. They really aren't keen on family at all. Thus why every Christmas they lie to their families and escape to some exotic isle. This year, they are off to Fiji until weather grounds their plane and they are captured on TV being forced to stay in country.

Plot forces require that each of four parents, now all separated, see the same news report and press the guilt button. Each parent will be visited and each will bring about a new kind of torture.

Robert Duvall and Sissy Spacek are Vaughn's parents while Mary Steenburgen and Jon Voight act as Witherspoon's sires. Each offers opportunities for laughs and yet none provide. Director Seth Gordon assigns each of these legendary performers a personality but forgets to offer any plot assistance.

Duvall is a bully, as are the assigned brothers Jon Favreau and Tim McGraw, randomly assigned as cage fighters. Are you laughing yet? Spacek is a space cadet who has married again to one of Brad's friends (Patrick Van Horn in a 'hey that guy was in Swingers' cameo'). Are you laughing now? How about if mom and new boyfriend repeatedly mention their sex life? Nothing?

Steenburgen, as Witherspoon's Kate warns us, is a cougar. She immediately is welcoming to Brad, willing to humiliate her daughter to make Brad ever more uncomfortable. Ha! No. Yeah, me neither. What if I throw in the fact the cougar mom is also a jesus freak and is dating a pastor played by Dwight Yoakam? What if the pastor forces Brad and Katie to play Mary and Joseph in a church pageant? Still nothing?

Finally there is Jon Voight who apparently said no to his assigned persona. Instead Voight plays benign presence to play against the craziness of everyone else. It works only to highlight the irritating, over the top absurdity of the other characters. But atleast Voight doesn't embarrass himself, which is I'm guessing, his goal for this role.

Seth Gordon is a comedically tone deaf director who pays off would be jokes two minutes before they actually happen. Truly, if you cannot see these 'jokes before they actually happen you may be having a stroke, seek medical help. Predictability is a sin that few can be forgiven for. I expect it from say, The Transporter where I would be disappointed if Jason Statham didn't drive fast and blow stuff up good.

I doubt the makers of Four Christmases put even that much thought into making this movie. They merely manufactured an idea. Cut characters out of a book of personality traits, filmed them and assembled them in number order. Whether the result was funny or even modestly amusing not so much a concern as getting the Christmas set film into theaters by the holidays to capitalize on tired, turkey and shopping attled masses seeking mindless distraction.

Say, I can recommend this movie. If you are in a tryptophan coma or blinded by the blue light special, Four Christmases is playing in a theater where you can sit in peace and quiet and not be bothered for 90 minutes.