The King of Kong

The hit of the Slamdance Film Festival, The King of Kong tells the super-charged story of one man's quest to set the world record on Donkey Kong, and another man driven to ensure his failure. If this sounds like a Hollywood plot, it will be soon since the film's remake rights were bought by New Line. But before the casting agents get their hands on this, we've got a chance to meet the real Steve, Billy and Doris, an 81-year-old Q*bert champ, and find out what makes them tick. Some things are predictable — these grown-ups all seem to have a part of them stuck in their childhoods — others are wonderfully fresh, like Doris, who steals the film as an unrepentant lover of video games. The real story here, though, is the rivalry between Steve and Billy, both 40-something family men, both obsessed with besting each other and the machine. Director Seth Gordon has worked narrative magic, sifting through hundreds of hours of footage to deliver this engaging look at the games people play. (DW)