ScreenWize

The truth is way more unlikely than fiction in this documentary about the subculture of (mostly) men who live, it seems, only to beat the high scores on video games like Pac-Man, Centipede and the king of them all: Donkey Kong. That was – you’re thinking - back in the pre-digital era of the 1980’s along with beards, big hair and big collars. But no, this is the present, and a small and dedicated band of middle-aged American gamers still play hard on these old style machines, attempting to outdo each other and, under the watchful eyes of referee organisation ‘Twin Galaxy,’ become that wonderfully American idea of ‘world champion’.

The documentary starts with some film footage from 1982 when a young man named Billy Mitchell achieved fame by setting a Bradman like world-record on Donkey Kong. For more than twenty years no one came close to breaking his score, and Mitchell became a legend (well, in the rarified world of really old video games that is), running a “World Famous Restaurant” in Florida and maintaining his beard, big hair and big collars. Enter Steve Wiebe, mild mannered family man and obsessive musician, with a history of underachieving and now retrenched from his job in Washington. In the true spirit of a wacky version of American Dream he decides to stake personal fulfillment (and the sanity of his family) on beating Mitchell’s record. The film then follows these two men through the resulting battle, as well as introducing us to the small group of dedicated gamers who understand the significance of what unfolds. (In one interview, Twin Galaxy founder Walter Day comments – without irony – that the Mitchell v Wiebe contest is “one of the great battles of history.”)

Whilst the camerawork leaves much to be desired in places, Director Seth Gordon constructs an engaging story that moves beyond the world of high scores to the nature of competitiveness itself. However, he is increasingly manipulative and looses any semblance of evenhandedness as he steadily positions Mitchell as bad guy and Wiebe as the everyday man who we are clearly meant to support in the battle that is no longer for the Donkey Kong crown, but for decency, integrity and the American Way. Despite this directorial bias, there’s much to enjoy here, including what I suspect are some unintended humorous insights into the American psyche.

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Filed Under: Reviews by Simon