The Darwin Awards

This was a movie I was really looking forward to at Sundance. We're all familiar with the Darwin Awards, a website started by Stanford molecular biologist Wendy Northcutt to humorously recognize extremely stupid acts that lead to self-inflicted, accidental death. Northcutt's notion is that the human gene pool improves when these tragi-comic figures, who are presumably plagued by genetic stupidity, are removed from the population. Hence the Darwin Awards (www.darwinawards.com).

It sounds like a terrific premise for an outrageous comedy and like the rest of the audience I was licking my chops. Unfortunately, this movie was about as funny as Origin of the Species. Director Finn Taylor has made a couple of refreshingly oddball films (Dreams with the Fishes, Cherish) but The Darwin Awards fails on almost every level.

The concept was probably doomed from the outset by the decision to incorporate a bunch of award-winning events into a linear storyline, including madcap crime investigations and a little love interest. Casting Joseph Fiennes and Wynona Ryder as the leads was the second mistake, as neither of them was right for their parts (and despite their efforts, came off very flat). Follow that with writing that is simply not very clever and you have a disappointing movie.

The vignettes do include some great casting choices, including Chris Penn, Tim Blake Nelson, David Arquette and Metallica. But unfortunately, they are lost in the woeful script, and give us only the occasional funny moment.

As many have heard, actor Chris Penn was found dead at his Santa Monica home the day of the Sundance premiere. Finn Taylor had some nice words to say about Chris prior to the screening. And afterwards Winona Ryder, who had known Chris for 15 years, spoke at length about him. "He wasn't just Sean's younger brother," she said. It was a genuinely nice tribute.

Choose "The Darwin Awards" if you want a relaxing afternoon or evening watching a fun film with enough laughs to make you walk away satisfied. Looking at my IMDb ID, "fastforwardaddict," you would surmise correctly that I have no patience for lame or poorly constructed movies. I fastforward through everything that is subpar. If the writing and/or the acting are bad, the DVD goes right back into the Netflix or Blockbuster sleeve. Favorite movies of mine include those that are considered by such critics as Leonard Maltin to be four star rated. I say all this because when this came out in the theatres, I read newspaper and magazine reviews that made it seem like a dud. Seems rather fishy now, because I watched this with a male who is also very hard to please and we both liked it. At the end, he said, "You picked a winner this time." One criticism I read was that there was no chemistry between Joseph Fiennes and Winona Ryder. First of all, the movie was about Fiennes truly irritating the h... out of Ryder. Haven't you ever worked with someone who drove you nuts? Well, Fiennes couldn't have played this more perfectly. I've known characters like this and he is right on the money. I also knew a character just like the one he played in "Forever Mine" and he was right on the money there, too. His facial expressions are enough in so many instances, he doesn't even have to talk. His stiff body language was absolutely suited to the character he was playing. Ryder was excellent as his co-worker. Why do you think she survived her legal and public relations' problems? Because she is a very good actress. As for the chemistry between them, that is subjective; I sensed it.

Most of the Darwin situations, i.e., what the nutty victims did, were priceless, particularly the fellow who attached the missile to his car. The actors who played the husband and wife who were nearby made those characters very believable.

The comedic writing was good. The quips between Fiennes and Ryder were great! I hardly ever watch a movie twice, but I would watch this one again just to hear them go at each other, and to watch with even more of my friends and relatives to share the lighthearted fun. Sarcastic but cute give and take in a conversation is not easy to write, but the writers succeeded here.

Fiennes's range is wide: all the way from well-acted serious films such as "Luther" and particularly, "Leo," to this light and happy, very good-for-a-Saturday-afternoon provider of laughs.

Here is one movie which begins well enough and the social premise is that accidents are everywhere. The film is called " The Darwin Awards. " The theory of social stupidity and why so many people commit suicide through thoughtless accidents is redundantly explained. However, there are just as many people who don't wait for the accident to happen, they insist on accomplishing their task despite the obvious dangers and possible consequences. Michael Burrows ( Joseph Fiennes) plays a washed out policeman who cannot stand the sight of blood. Seeking employment, he is teamed up with Siri Taylor (Winona Ryder) to investigate a rash of accidents which have million dollars insurance policies. In their travels, they discover how a simple plan, can unleash a series of mishaps and behavioral actions which cause great bodily injury. With special guest in cameo roles like Wilmer Valderrama, Lukas Haas, Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, director Finn Taylor creates a comedic wild ride for audiences. A laughable film which contain much slapstick, but somehow does not quite hold the story together. Nevertheless, a fun film to watch. ***

This is obviously one of those quirky "indie" films that somehow manages to slip down the cracks & is quickly forgotten, until it turns up in video shops to quietly gather dust on some obscure shelf in the corner. This is one of those examples. The film proposes to make known the fatal examples of those idiots that try stupid stunts (kind of like the case studies in either of the 'Jackass' films). About the only different thing about this is the fact that the stunts are not real, and there's something of a plot line about an ex cop (Joseph Finnes), turned insurance investigator, who is obsessed about the actions of these mental dwarfs who seem to have a thing for acting really dumb. Wynonna Ryder has some nice time as a fellow investigator,who is on board to find out pretty much the same. There is an unnecessary romance subplot going on that only manages to pad the film out. The film does, however manage to get some nice screen time with some juicy cameos from the likes of Chris Penn (his last film before his unfortunate death some time ago),John Doe (from the L.A. punk band X),legendary Beat era poet & publisher Lawrence Ferlingetti,performance artist/writer Josh Kornbluth,and even Metal Gods, Metallica. Despite this,this is a 3rd tier film that may do o.k. as a late night film (if there are any cinemas that still screen midnight flicks),but it won't lose anything if viewed on the small screen.

This was the coveted ticket at Sundance, apparently. We arrived 2 1/2 hours before the screening and were shocked to find that we were nearly 90th in line! We luckily got into our screening,but unfortunately, the movie was a disappointment. The cast is stellar; Joe Fiennes and Winona Ryder are the headliners, and there are many cameos, including Tim Blake Nelson and Robin Tunney, who starred in director Finn Taylor's last movie, Cherish. In addition, Chris Penn (who unfortunately passed away just the day before the premiere of this film at Sundance), Wilmer Valderrama, Alessandro Nivola, Ty Burrell, Juliette Lewis, Tom Hollander, and David Arquette were some of the other cameos included.

Joe Fiennes plays a police detective who is thrown off the squad due to his propensity to faint at the sight of blood. He and Ryder's character get together and try to find out what makes these "Darwin Award" winners tick. I am not sure that point is ever resolved in this film, which is part of the reason why it is uneven. Also, there is just no chemistry between Ryder and Fiennes. I really didn't care whether or not the two of them "got together" or not.

There are a few laughs in the film as the Award "winners" demonstrate what they did to "win." The problem is that they just didn't effectively sum up the movie. It was a little confusing. I will probably rent the DVD when it comes out so that I can see if I just missed it. Another problem is the documentary "filmmaker" who tags along. Why? He seems pointless.

All in all, we had a great time at the screening; Fiennes, Valderrama, Burrell, and Brad Hunt, as well as Finn Taylor, and the author of the book (The Darwin Awards) led the Q and A session afterward. That was the best part of the screening! My recommendation is that if you want to see a good Finn Taylor film, rent "Cherish".