The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters: Critic Reviews

A funny and madly arresting new documentary.

The movie's Rocky formula proves irresistible.

Is there anything more tiresome than watching people play video games? Seth Gordon's documentary The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters answers that question with a decisive yes: watching a movie about people playing video games.

A hilarious and moving study of the obsessive competition between the all-time scoring leader on Donkey Kong, an odd Floridian, and a father of two who gets sucked into a world of mind-blowing passive-aggressiveness.

[The King of Kong] would play like dark comedy were there not such honest-to-God cruelty at its core.

Heartbreaking and hilarious...

Nerds rule.

With the results up in the air until the very end of the film, you will care who wins the goofy contest.

The King of Kong is very entertaining (and doesn't overstay its welcome)...

A documentary that is beyond strange.

Take maniacal classic video game champion Billy Mitchell, questionable video game world-record organization Twin Galaxies and unemployed dad Steve Wiebe vying to usurp the champ and you've got a great story.

A classic video-arcade game becomes the means of an epic struggle in this funny, surprisingly poignant video documentary.

Thoroughly engaging, even as it explores the ugly underbelly of competitive gaming.

A stupendously entertaining nonfiction film concerning the cutthroat battle for world records on coin-operated arcade games.

Directed by Seth Gordon, the film illuminates and draws you into a subculture you never knew existed and makes you genuinely care about its characters.

Wonderful, hilarious documentary.

Hollywood may find it difficult to cast two big-name stars willing to play it as broadly as the real-life hero and villain of this tale. Nor would many self-respecting scriptwriters dare to match the sheer improbability of these actual happenings.

Not since 300 have I seen such manly mano-a-manoing as the iron clash of wills in the documentary The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters.

A gripping yarn, an edge-of-your-seat thriller, as well as a mocking insider's view and a genuine giggle.

Hilarious and eye-popping.

A terrifically entertaining documentary about an unlikely subject.

A hilarious story about an unbelievable collection of arrested-teenage morons and, yes, an inspiring fable of persistence and redemption.

A clever structure by director Seth Gordon means that The King of Kong ends up more engrossing than its bunch of geeky characters initially suggest.

Who would have guessed that a documentary about gamers obsessed with scoring a world record at Donkey Kong would not only be roaringly funny but serve as a metaphor for the decline of Western civilization?

A sprightly new documentary that's as compulsively watchable as the vintage video game it focuses on is addictive.