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First Look: THE DARWIN AWARDS
Release Date: Sundance 2006
Director: Finn Taylor
Executive Producers : Charles Hsiao, Laurie Miller, Steven Siebert
Producers : Jane Sindell, Johnny Wow, Jason Blum
Screenwriter : Finn Taylor
Cinematographer : Hiro Narita
Editor : Rick LeCompte
Production Designer : Peter Jamison
Composer : David Kitay
Cast : Joseph Fiennes, Winona Ryder, David Arquette, Juliette Lewis, Metallica,
Wilmer Valderrama
The Darwin Awards are a real-life phenomenon presented to individuals
who improve the human gene pool by removing themselves from it when they
accidentally kill themselves in incredibly stupid ways. Writer/director
Finn Taylor develops this irony with a deliciously dark comedy that revels
in the notion that truth is stranger than fiction...and a hell of a lot
funnier.
The stories in The Darwin Awards are integrated into a narrative about
two characters grappling with their own destinies. Burrows is a brilliant
detective with a special talent for profiling criminals. Siri is a hard-nosed
insurance investigator whose steeliness and "throw-caution-to-the-wind"
attitude is exactly the opposite of Burrows's thoughtful hesitation. When
Siri's employer hires Burrows to create a profile for potential Darwin
Award winners--who are costing the insurance company a fortune--the two
begin a search for the answer to what makes these people tick.
Taylor returns to Sundance (Dream with the Fishes, Cherish) with an epic
comedy that boasts a dream team of acting talent. Joseph Fiennes exudes
an intelligence that is the perfect foil to the absurdity happening around
Burrows, while Winona Ryder displays a brazen strength and maturity that
is a revelation as Siri. Combining these performances with numerous tasty
cameos, Taylor weaves humor, romance, and adventure into a highly entertaining
film.— Trevor Groth
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