| Series 7: The Contenders (2001) |
| Directed by Daniel Minahan. Starring Brooke Smith, Marylouise Burke, Glenn Fitzgerald, Michael Kaycheck, Richard Venture, and Merrit Weaver. |
| Given my intense dislike for reality shows (I'm proud to say I've never tuned in to Big Brother or Survivor), I've been wanting to catch this movie for some time. Series 7 satirises the whole reality t.v. concept by depicting its most logical extreme : death t.v. The Contenders is a hit t.v show in which six contestants are drafted by a national lottery and forced to hunt each other down in a designated town. |
| The current champion is Dawn , who's survived a few rounds so far by offing the opposition in a brutal and bloodthirsty fashion. Dawn is also heavily pregnant, and wants to survive the game to see her baby born. Her opponents in this round include homely old nurse Connie, a dizzy young girl named Lindsay, and a dying cancer patient that she once went to school with. The contenders are issued with 9mm Glocks, and told to keep away from loved ones during the hunt. |
| I won't give away much of the plot, seeing as the scenario pretty much speaks for itself. The whole movie is shot on digital video in a television format complete with commentary and commercial break wraparounds, so you really have to keep reminding yourself that it's a fictitious film you're watching, and not the latest Aaron Spelling ratings winner. Amazingly the whole concept is a lot more plausable than most over the top reality shows. |
| Daniel Minahan (who worked in tabloid television) wants us to think that what we're watching is real , and succeeds with flying colours. All of the reality t.v. standards are here. Candid confessions that contestants aren't prepared to discuss with their family, yet freely broadcast to the world, and self righteousness by contenders who are clearly drowning in a sea of hypochrisy. Connie the nurse is probably the biggest example of this... before the show she says that Dawn is a horrible bloodthirsty person, yet Connie racks up an impressive body count herself as the show unfolds. They say that you can tell a society's in bad shape by the number of potholes in its roads. A similar conclusion can probably be drawn from a society's television content. If that's the case, then from where I stand, we're in REAL bad shape ! |
| Entertainment : 3 out of 4 |
| Watchability : 3.5 out of 4 |
| Overall : 3.25 out of 4 |
| Reviewed by Blake |