A meditation on the loss of moral character in America, director Robert Redford's recounting of the 1950's quiz show scandals has much to recommend it, but fails to answer the $64,000 question--"so what?"
New York, 1957. Herb Stempel (John Turturro) is the reigning champion on "Twenty-One," one of the big-money quiz shows drawing huge new audiences to the fledgling medium of television. Stempel is seemingly unbeatable, but network and sponsor think he's a "schmuck with a face for radio," and
they want him off the show. Enter Columbia professor Charles Van Doren (Ralph Fiennes), a handsome WASP with an impeccable intellectual pedigree. "Twenty-One" producer Da...
Released:
1994
Rated:
PG-13
Length:
132 mins