The King of Kong

Rarely does a documentary film come along that has enthralling characters, plot intrigue and the emotional ups and downs of narrative film. I found it in the most unlikely of places… in the world of competitive classic arcade gaming. In other words, a movie about nerds trying for the highest score in Donkey Kong.

The film is The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters and the story is the duel between the long haired, super nerd and hot sauce mogul Billy Mitchell, world record holder for the highest score in Donkey Kong—apparently one of the hardest arcade games ever made—and Steve Wiebe, a soft spoken, friendly ex-Boeing employee who hasn’t seen many successes in life.

This movie was brilliant!

During the first couple of reels of the film you see a world of the arcade nerds (many that could double as a real life Napoleon Dynamite) still ferociously playing games like Pac-Man, Centipede and Missile Command 20 years later. At first you feel pity for these bizarre throwbacks to the 80’s. But once you get used to this bizarre setting the film shifts to what seems like the nicest guy alive, Steve Wiebe. Laid off and broke, he decides that he wants to try for the world record in Donkey Kong. It seems as though Steve has had 30 years of bad luck with whatever he does. He isn’t a competitive man, the best way to describe him would be Asperger’s.

What follows is an incredibly interesting and sometimes tragic story, filled with bizarre conspiracy and nerdy intrigue. And oddly you are laughing all the way until the end. I especially recommend the film to anyway that has been screwed over by a complete douche bag.

If you have ever thought to yourself, “you know nice guys DO finish last” this is the film for you.

The King of Kong comes out on DVD on January 29. I highly recommend it, definitely on my Top 10 for 2007.