Wow. This film took me a bit by surprise as I never realized people cared so much about establishing and maintaining records for best classic video game scores! In the scheme of things, this all seems rather unimportant to the average viewer--it certainly was to me. However, despite the seemingly mundane aspects of such a record, there is quite a lot to this documentary.

Before discussing what the film asserts, I should point out that there is a lot of controversy about the fairness and accuracy of the film. The "bad guy" in the film (Billy Mitchell) contends that he's been terribly misrepresented as does Twin Galaxies, an organization that maintains and verifies records of these games. I have no idea who is totally right and totally wrong, though even if the documentary has a bias (which, I'm sure it does),the film is an amazing psychological study of two very strange men--Steve Wiebe and Billy Mitchell.

As for Wiebe, he's portrayed as an underdog--a family man who is a nice guy and who is fighting against the combined weight of Mitchell and Twin Galaxies. However, I was stunned how Wiebe "checked out" on his family--spending all his time playing the game even when he was out of work. Even though Wiebe later seemingly broke the world record for Donkey Kong (an event comparable to curing cancer or bringing world peace according to some),it sure seemed as if Mitchell and Twin Galaxies took it very, very personally. That's because once Wiebe videotaped himself breaking the record and was told by a Twin Galavies judge that it was verified, an unusual step occurred--friends of Mitchell (the old record holder and video game god) showed up on behalf of this organization to inspect Wiebe's machine--seemingly forcing themselves into the Wiebe household like the SS. I have no idea how forceful this really was (the film makes it seem pretty nasty),but the bottom line is now they didn't want to count the record because Wiebe was associated with a rogue gamer (????). However, this is a seemingly unprecedented step AND Mitchell's records that were on tape were accepted without question--and it seemed like the film implied that Mitchell and Twin Galaxies were working together.

The problem gets worse, as in response, Wiebe attends an annuals gamers event and tries to set the record in public so there would be no doubt. He succeeded, but the whole thing looked amazingly sleazy--with a Mitchell minion (Brian Kuh) watching every move Wiebe made AND talking to Mitchell across the country by phone throughout--all of which you actually get to see in the film as it's happening. The Twin Galaxies folks, too, talked to Mitchell during this record-breaking event--an odd relationship in that they extended this favor to Mitchell. Once Wiebe breaks the record in public, one of Mitchell's supporters brought out an old videotape that Mitchell made a long time ago but "forgot to send to Twin Galaxies" in which he surpasses Wiebe's new record. This seemed amazingly convenient and although the videotape was a bit fuzzy, Mitchell's new score was accepted without further review--the crowd was not allowed to watch it again and Mitchell's machine was not personally examined and taken apart. Talk about a stacked deck!!

Now to me, who is the greatest Donkey Kong player is unimportant. What's fascinating is to watch Mitchell, as he APPEARS to be a rather angry man who seems to run Twin Galaxies as well as use his "posse" to do his dirty work--this is so weird. Early in the film, he talks like a nice guy and wishes others luck in surpassing his records. His actions on the film say otherwise. If this is the true picture of Mitchell, then the documentary does a great job of exposing him as well as his ultra-tight relationship with Twin Galaxies. If it isn't, then I feel sorry for him--at least to a point. Some of his actions simply seem indefensible.

The film makers set out to make Wiebe the hero and underdog and in this sense, they were very successful. After reading through the internet (including the Twin web site),I STILL am not sure of the truth, though Mitchell did not acquit himself well in the film. If he's not a sore loser, the film sure painted him as one. A fascinating and compelling portrait--though I still think the whole record thing is pretty silly. After all, in the scheme of things, it all just doesn't seem that important and it is supposed to be a game!

PS--One of the funnier and more pathetic parts of the film really didn't have to do with either Mitchell or Wiebe. One guy is talking about his love for Centipede and desire to set a world record because he felt it would "get him chicks"--dream on!!

Billy Mitchell set the Donkey Kong record back in the 80s that stood for almost 20 years. Walter Day founded Twin Galaxies which keeps track of the world records of the old original arcade games. Billy is a cocky skilled gamesman who is part of the Twin Galaxies establishment. Steve Wiebe is the newcomer from Redmond, Washington. He is a regular slob struggling to reach the top of anything. It's a game of back and forth as records are challenged and personalities clash.

The movie starts off as a David and Goliath competition. Billy Mitchell is such a fascinating character. I don't think he's a hated cartoon. Instead he's a real human being with real ego and real fears. Steve is more of the classic quiet nerd. But the movie takes unexpected turns and brings weird personalities like the crazy nemesis, the sycophant, and the rest of the nerds. It shows that no matter what the competition or the stakes, the emotional drama remains the same.

I love these strange documentaries, where real-life people are interviewed, followed around and we get to witness yet another example of how life is often "stranger than fiction." In this case, it's video game geeks. And, man, I mean "geeks." That's the main story here, more specifically, is the quest between two of these " players" to become the top "Donkey Kong" video game champion in the world.

I'll get this out front first: yes, these are real people doing their thing but a lot of this is very contrived and set up for dramatic purposes. The "good guy" is made to look even better than what he probably is, and the "villain" is made to look like the bad guy so much so it's laughable. I mean, come on, man! It's just tooooo hokey.

Steve Weibe looked like the only normal human being in this film, but if you read the ending graphics, you have to ask how many "nomral family men"would be traveling all over the U.S. to set a video game record? The black-hat-and-clothes villain Billy Mitchell was a little too bad to have credibility. Yeah, he's arrogant, and I do believe he his one of those guys who lives on past glory and is deathly afraid of losing in front of a crowd. But, they (with his cooperation, of course) made him into a cartoon character in this film. It was ludicrous..

The more believable parts still made me shake my head in wonder how some people are just plain nuts......and don't know it! "Nerds" is good word to describe almost all of the old arcade video-game zealots. I think the oddest one might have been the "referee," Walter Day, the bearded transcendental meditation guy. He's is the third leading "character" in this documentary. Actually, he didn't appear too wacked until the second half of the film when we saw and heard him trying to sing, among other things.

And by the way, if you've ever read about guys who set multiple records in the Guiness Book Of World Records, they are, indeed, a strange lot. Notice the intense, Charles Manson-type eyes on a lot of these people; it's scary!

Like other documentaries about unusual people or controversies (i.e. "My Kid Could Paint That," "Crazy Love") this will keep your interest throughout and having you rooting for the good guy, big-time, even if it is contrived. In the end, manipulated or not, we care about what happens in this story, so director Seth Gordon did his job well.