Jim's Film Festival Diary for Tuesday, April 17

Films: The King of Kong

Future Screenings: None

Well, last night was it for me. I saw my 20th and final film of the festival, and tonight it'll be time for me to take a break and catch up on some much-needed sleep! For those of you who haven't had enough, however, and/or who live a bit further afield and had a hard time making it into the city to see movies this year, keep in mind that tonight and tomorrow night the festival will be hitting the road with its Reels on Wheels program, and screening a number of films in the suburbs. Check the site for details on the movies, venues, and showtimes.

The King of Kong
This was another of my must-sees this year, as it's a documentary about video games and video gamers. Specifically, it's about the fascinating men involved in a recent competition to get and hold onto the world record high score in the classic arcade game Donkey Kong. The film opens by giving us a look at one of those men - the world champion record-holder since the mid '80s, Billy Mitchell. Billy Mitchell, like many of the people in this movie, is such a ridiculous character it's almost hard to believe he's not made up. He's an incredibly arrogant, overly competitive, totally self-absorbed, childish jerk-ass with an awesomely bad mullet to boot. Besides being a feared classic video game competitor and record-holder, he's also a referee for a company that specializes in recording and verifying video game records, Twin Galaxies, and he owns and runs his own hot sauce business. He's accompanied by sycophantic, less talented, mildly frustrated lackeys (one of whom is such a stereotype of a nerd, it's once again hard to believe he exists) and a big-boobed wife, and almost as soon as you meet the guy, you want him to lose.

Luckily, we are quickly introduced to his rival and the film's hero, lovable loser and all-around nice family man Steve Wiebe. Wiebe has never gotten to the top of anything he's been involved in, and he's had a string of bad luck, even getting laid off on the day he closed on his house. But now he's determined to get the top score in Donkey Kong. And thus begins a crazy, hilarious, tense, heartbreaking, triumphant roller coaster ride involving conspiracy theories, last minute surprise twists, and freaks and geeks of all kinds. It's a very funny and exciting film, that's sometimes almost hard to watch, but that's ultimately very entertaining (the conclusion even inspired a great big cheer from the audience). If you get a chance to see it, definitely do so, and remember to stay through all the closing credits, or you'll miss the end of the story.

There are no ballots being handed out anymore, as the festival proper is over and the rating tallies have already begun, but if I had had the opportunity, I would have given this one a rating of Very Good.