The Darwin Awards (film)

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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

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.

Joseph Fiennes in The Darwin Awards
Joseph Fiennes in The Darwin Awards

[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...

[edit] External links