Quiz Show (1994)

Rolling Stone
"...Directed with probing intelligence and slashing wit....Fiennes gives a brilliant performance..." 09/22/1994 p.103-4

Entertainment Weekly
"...Razor sharp..." -- Rating: A 01/15/1999 pp.64-5

New York Times
"...Directed with quietly dazzling acuity by [Redford]....A rich, handsome articulate film about a subject truly worth talking about..." 09/14/1994 p.C11

Sight and Sound
"...Redford's direction is fluid and self-effacing, and he draws fine performances from his cast..." 03/01/1995 p.49

Los Angeles Times
"...A thoughtful, absorbing drama about moral ambiguity and the affability of evil....Fiennes' ability to project the pain behind a well-mannered façade, to turn intellectual and emotional agony into a real and living thing, is devastating..." 09/16/1994 p.F1

Chicago Sun-Times
"...Robert Redford has directed QUIZ SHOW as entertainment, history and challenge....[The screenplay] is smart, subtle and ruthless..." 09/16/1994 p.39

VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever 0 of 10
Redford's intelligent, entertaining, and morally complex film about the TV game show scandals of the late '50s is his most accomplished work to date. At the center of the film is Charles Van Doren (Ralph Fiennes), an intellectual, golden boy who dethrones Herbert Stempel (John Turturro), the reigning champion of the rigged "Twenty-One." The program's sponsor felt Stempel, a nerdy Jewish grad's everyman qualities were wearing thin and wanted a more polished image, which they found in handsome, sophisticated Van Doren. Federal investigator Goodwin (Rob Morrow) suspects Van Doren's reign is a sham and sets out to expose him as a fraud. Acting is of the highest caliber with Fiennes, Turturro, and Morrow all giving beautiful performances. Notable among supporting cast is Scofield as Van Doren's prize-winning father. With strong script and gorgeous lensing, this modern Faust story is a brilliant reflection on corporate greed, class rivalry, and the powers of television.
 
Leonard Maltin's Movie & Video Guide 0 of 10
Engrossing story of the TV quiz show scandal of the late 1950s, focusing on a hotheaded sore loser (John Turturro, in a sensational performance) and his successor on Twenty-One: instant hero Charles Van Doren (Ralph Fiennes), scion of a socially prominent, intellectual family. Overlength is its only weakness--but it never ceases to be real (if not always exactly truthful). Paul Scofield is a joy to watch as the elder Van Doren, and director Martin Scorsese is well cast as the cold-blooded sponsor of the show. That's film director Barry Levinson as TV host Dave Garroway; look sharp for an unbilled Ethan Hawke in a Columbia University classroom. - Leonard Maltin