“Quiz Show” is a dramatized re-telling of the Twenty One quiz show scandal during the 1950s. The movie opens with an introduction to a pivotal character, Dick Goodwin. We learn that he has recently moved to Washington D.C and is a government worker. From that scene to the next, the audience is introduced to the iconic game show, “Twenty One.” The show seems to pride itself on its toughness and honesty, going so far as to keep its questions in a heavily guarded bank vault. This pride becomes ironic as soon as the viewer realizes the quiz show’s corruption.

Out of every single movie that’s been based on a true story, “Quiz Show” is pretty accurate. However, I wouldn’t watch this movie if you truly wanted a documentary about the scandal. As a movie, “Quiz Show” itself is great. Its plot is enough to drive the movie along and the characters are decent. I, myself, favored the character of Charles Van Doren. Van Doren seems to start out honestly as a man who refuses to play along with the producer’s wishes. Unfortunately, he is roped into the game show and the perks of being a winner. One downside (although this could just be me) was that I continuously found myself thinking of Ralph Fiennes as Amon Goeth in “Schindler’s List.” Although his tone of voice in “Schindler’s List” was marked by a German accent, his decidedly un-German voice in “Quiz Show” still makes me think of the personification of evil that he portrayed in “Schindler’s List.” The character of Herb Stempel annoyed me greatly, by contrast. When introduced to Stempel, he had already been corrupted by the show and his cockiness grated on my nerves. Also, his acting seemed a bit unbelievable. His character was very one-dimensional and did not grow much at all during the movie. Overall, I found “Quiz Show” to be a great, dramatic portrayal of its namesake, the 50s game show scandal.