Someone is currently making a fiction version of The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, and that's a mistake. This is the sort material that only reality could have convincingly written. It depicts one of the strangest sub-cultures I've even seen- the one of classic arcade gaming. If you know what a Donkey Kong kill screen is, you won't find this movie funny, but everyone else will. If you have spent every day of you life hoping and praying you might one day behold a Donkey Kong kill screen, you will find this movie suspenseful- also like everyone else.
The film depicts a rivalry between Billy Mitchell, who is based on the film is one of the worst human beings since Joseph Stalin, and all-American everyman Steve Weibe, as they attempt to win the world's record for the highest score of a Donkey Kong game. Donkey Kong, you will recall, was the first hit from master game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, and the first game to feature the character of Mario, who by this time has assumed a place in popular culture that rivals Bugs Bunny and eclipses Sonic the Hedgehog, despite the upcoming film starring Anthony Hopkins and Al Pacino. Miyamoto's creation is also known for being obscenely difficult- a gaming expert tells us that average game lasts less than a minuet.
Mitchell is a jerk, but a talented and successful one. He owns a restaurant in Hollywood, Florida as well his own hot sauce company. Wikipedia also tells me that he was also named the Video Game Player of the Century at a Tokyo game convention, for what ever that's worth. He is really, really good, breaking records not only at Donkey Kong but Donkey Kong Jr., Pac-Man and Burgertime. He has worshipful groupies who follow him around a proclaim his genius in a way that too entertaining for words.
Weibe, on the other hand, is a good natured nice guy who teachers junior high school science in Washington state. His family seems to be out of contemporary version of Leave It To Beaver, with an incredibly supportive wife and child. Weibe doesn't know what he's getting into when he records himself beating Mitchell's record at Kong in his garage. Twin Galaxies, the internation arbiter for game scores, is reluctant to believe that an unkown could be that good, and some of Mitchell's fans visit Wiebe's house and harass his wife and mother into letting them examine his machine.
This is just one of a series of unbelievable events by people who take video games as seriously as Nixon took Watergate. There are so many bizarre and eccentric people in the film its hard to not laugh at them (in a semi-affectionate way), but then the film becomes something else- a really suspenseful thriller. Wiebe is such an innocent average Joe and Mitchell such an asshole that you really, really get involved in their story. The poster says that this is one of the greatest rivalries of all time, and that's no joke- The Beatles vs. The Stones had nothing on these guys.
And it's the combination of comedy and sports drama that make King of Kong one of the very best films of the year. It is endlessly entertaining, and although I've only seen it once, I am sure it will stand up to multiple viewings. It's hard to believe that people like Mitchell really exist, but more gratifying to know that people like Wiebe (and his family) do.
The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)