The Darwin Awards (film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Darwin Awards | |
---|---|
Promotional poster for The Darwin Awards |
|
Directed by | Finn Taylor |
Produced by | Jason Blum Debbie Brubaker Dieter Busch Frank Capra III Charles Hsiao Laurie Miller Peter Naish Steven Siebert Jane Sindell Johnny Wow |
Written by | Finn Taylor |
Starring | Joseph Fiennes Winona Ryder David Arquette Juliette Lewis Wilmer Valderrama Chris Penn Julianna Margulies Robin Tunney Brad Hunt Josh Charles Judah Friedlander Lukas Haas D.B. Sweeney |
Music by | David Kitay |
Cinematography | Hiro Narita |
Editing by | Rick LeCompte |
Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release date(s) | January 25, 2006 (Sundance) |
Running time | 93 min. |
Language | English |
IMDb profile |
This article includes a list of references or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. You can improve this article by introducing more precise citations. |
The Darwin Awards is a comedy film based on the website of the same name.
Written and directed by Finn Taylor, the film premiered January 25, 2006, at the Sundance Film Festival. The film features Joseph Fiennes, Winona Ryder, David Arquette, Juliette Lewis, Wilmer Valderrama, Chris Penn, Julianna Margulies, Robin Tunney, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Brad Hunt, Adam Savage, Jamie Hyneman and Metallica. This was Chris Penn's last movie before his death on January 24, 2006, the day before the movie's premiere. The film includes several full and partial re-enactments of "Darwin Awards", most of which are actually urban legends, most notably the debunked JATO Rocket Car story.
[edit] Cast
Joseph Fiennes stars as Michael Burrows, a detective hired pro tempore by an insurance company to profile Darwin Award candidates who accidentally kill themselves, in order to save the insurance company's money.
Winona Ryder plays Siri, a work-hardened yet sweetly authentic insurance investigator working with Burrows.
Wilmer Valderrama plays a film director who is coincidentially the main point-of-view of the movie. He records Burrows during the final police call that ended his work prematurely, and follows him through his pursuit of a job with the insurance company.
Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, the hosts of the TV show MythBusters, play two army-junk sellers. They appear during the story of the rocket car, which they effectively reproduced in their show's pilot episode.
[edit] Plot
The movie begins with a detailed look into the life of Michael Burrows. He is explained to have an unnatural obsession with The Darwin Awards. He states that it has been his life goal to ultimately find the defining factors of a Darwin Award candidate. He explains his fascination is due largely to a deep propensity for developing profiles of people. Michael's talents as a profiler led him to a job with the San Francisco Police Department as a detective and crime scene investigator. Michael is then called in to investigate a murder. Burrows confronts his suspect who seems constantly able to work his way out of the handcuffs. Burrows easily overpowers the suspect, but when the suspect starts to bleed, Burrow's hemophobia or fear of blood overcomes him. He faints and the suspect flees. Burrows begs a cameraman, who had been documenting his career, to call 9-1-1 but the cameraman refuses, stating that he must remain a passive observer. Burrows gets discharged from the force and promptly seeks a job with an insurance agency so he can further investigate the "x-factor," the defining factor of a Darwin Award. His employer initially displays skepticism, doubting the usefulness of a profile for people who are an immediate danger to themselves. Burrows, in an attempt to prove his skill, quickly identifies that his interviewer is undergoing his midlife crisis and is having an affair. He even goes so far as to suggest what type of underwear the man is wearing...