Quiz Show - Reaction

A dramatic, engrossing movie about the 1950's scandal about quiz game shows being fixed. It's suspenseful all the way through its more than two hour length. The writing is smart and the characters appropriately articulate. Also, I love the accents.

Beside the obvious moral issue in the film, there's a number of other themes. The movie speaks a bit about ethnic/race and class issues, especially as seen through the producers and sponsors of the show thinking about the image they want to convey and what the public wants. The movie also speaks about father-son issues, as exemplified by the two main characters' relationships with their father's/son's. In addition, in some sense, it speaks about America's loss of innocence in general and about the media in particular. Finally, we also see the rise of television culture, as families gather weekly to watch their favorite shows, and the tyranny of audience ratings.

The movie is based loosely on a true story. Although all indications imply the movie is truthful, and it even names names of real people and companies, it apparently takes substantial dramatic license. For instance, the lawyer didn't really play any role in uncovering the scandal, despite how the movie makes it appear. It's ironic that a movie about misleading the public into believing something happened that actually didn't does the same with its plot.