The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (***1/4)

This was practically a must-see for me, as Donkey Kong was my first video game crush as a senior in high school. Virtual celebrity plumber Mario, who had no brother yet, got his start in the arcade classic back in 1981. Yet, maybe surprisingly, this isn’t just about nostalgia. Besides centering on the quest of Arizona teacher Steve Wiebe to take the Kong crown away from longtime holder Billy Mitchell, the documentary uncovers a whole subculture of old-school gamers, nearly all men, for whom high scores in Centipede, or Q-Bert, are like 100-meter records for runners. Neither mild-mannered Wiebe nor hot-sauce mogul Mitchell is a stereotypical geek, though you can see some of those on the fringes, and their clash of personalities gives the movie some of its interest. Allegations of cheating, high-pressure tournaments, and factional infighting are all part of the story here. Director Seth Gordon compresses some of these events into a highly watchable (even for non-gamers) 79 minutes.

IMDB link

reviewed 9/25/07