Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

The fix is in and television are the fixers.Quiz Show is a thoroughly fascinating picture. Based on the true story of the rigging of the American hit game show "Twenty-One", and when America was captivated by the sharp and handsome intellectual faker Charles Van Doren over the schlubby savant Herb Stempel. Robert Redford meticulously brings back to life the art of the 1950's television game show. The glitz, the glamour, the product placements. Michael Ballhaus's cinematography takes your breath away, especially in the scene in which Stempel is forced to take the fall for Van Doren. Quite simply, one of the great scenes I've ever seen in film. Not to mention, John Turturro gives a performance for the ages.When the studio cameras are off and the congressional investigation begins, sadly, the film loses it's energy and edge and becomes a standard courtroom drama. But it must be stated, when this film gets you, you won't look away.

It's 1958. Twenty-one is one of the most popular TV quiz shows. Producers Dan Enright (David Paymer) and Albert Freedman (Hank Azaria) run the show. Herb Stempel (John Turturro) from Queens is the reigning champ. However the sponsor doesn't feel that Stempel is a good TV personality. Columbia University instructor Charles Van Doren (Ralph Fiennes) is fascinated with the show and tries out. Unscrupulous Enright and Freedman forces Stempel to lose on an easy question. Van Doren's TV success soon brings him out of the shadows of his renowned intellectual father. Stempel is frozen out and he goes to a grand jury. Richard Goodwin (Rob Morrow) is a congressional investigator who starts to investigate the game show.This movie is anchored by two amazing performances. John Turturro is at his jittery sweaty best. He provides the nervous energy while Ralph Fiennes gives the human fragility. It's a great character study of two fascinating personalities.

Robert Redford's Quiz Show is a pretty decent film that has some social, economic, and political morals to share. This drama is mostly riveting and it has an interesting story to tell. It's well-directed film by Redford who turned out to be a good director. The acting is great by everybody. My only problem is this film runs a little too long and it seems stale at some points.Redford's film is based off a true story. In 1958, NBC started a game show craze especially with their hit show 21. When champion Herb Stampel is kicked out and replaced by the popular Charles Van Doren, NBC comes under fire as it's revealed that the champions may have been given the answers to the questions.As mentioned before, the acting is phenomenal. John Turturro and Ralph Fiennes are great in their respective roles as the champions. David Paymer certainly makes a slimy guy. I was very surprised to see Martin Scorcese in an acting role, but I was very pleased.Overall, this is a decent film that goes on about corruption. Despite some staleness, I rather liked this film. It's not the best film of 1994, but it's easily entertaining. As for the subject matter, it's very hard to make a good mainstream film with it. But, somehow Robert Redford did it. I rate this film 8/10.

In the era of reality TV, we're used to the blurred line between fiction and non, but in the early days of television, the public was easily suckered in by the grandeur of that magical living room box. "Quiz Show" examines the public's right to the truth and perfectly captures an America bobbing in the wake of McCarthyism.Robert Redford brings his filmmaking pedigree to this adaptation of the Richard N. Goodwin book documenting Goodwin's (played by Robert Morrow) investigation that ignited the quiz show scandal of the late '50s. Paul Attanasio's screenplay weaves a story of TV bigwigs and little everyday men blinded by tastes of fame and money, along with the public deception they engaged in for their various reasons.The film begins predominantly with Herbie Stempel (John Turturro), a contestant on the popular NBC primetime game show "Twenty One." Herbie's long run on the show is about to come to a halt as the producers have seen their ratings plateau and want to bring in a new face to liven things up. Producer Dan Enright (David Paymer) tells Herbie he must throw the next show (in Herb's words, "take a dive") by flubbing an answer to a question as simple as who won the 1955 Oscar for Best Picture.Herbie is replaced with Charles Van Doren (Ralph Fiennes), the unremarkable son of a wealthy Pulitzer winner with a mind for trivia. Enright and co-producer Albert Freedman (Hank Azaria) propose an agreement in which they'll feed Charles answers to questions he already knows. He's rich, the public is enthralled and the ratings go up — everyone wins.The film builds this story for awhile until Richard Goodwin comes into the picture as a member of the legislative oversight committee for the House of Representatives. Goodwin senses something is awry with these quiz shows and slowly uncovers the truth."Quiz Show" isn't suspenseful from start to finish given it's clear the fraudulent quiz show operation will be exposed at some point, but what's fascinating to watch is how these otherwise small men in Stempel and Van Doren deal with the situation as it unfolds. How warped their egos have become after they agree to commit the "slight" transgression becomes a factor in the film. Are they good guys or bad guys, or more appropriately, how black and white is this situation, really?Equally intriguing is how Goodwin goes about interrogating all the parties involved as if private eye solving a murder. He demands the truth and it becomes apparent as hearings begin to be held that the public does too. "Quiz Show" paints an honest portrait of "the business" back in the '50s, the way that the TV people in that age were so dedicated to the dollar and justified everything as "it's what the people want." Things haven't changed so much, however. We now willfully indulge in contrived situations, believing that what the TV shows us is in fact the reality. "Quiz Show," even today, reveals to us that while we demand truth and honesty as consumers, we also long to believe and prefer it to skepticism because it's so much easier. In that sense, how much of a scandal was this really?~StevenThanks for reading! Visit moviemusereviews.com for more!