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"We're in show business." - David Paymer Three years of history are condensed into a matter of months in QUIZ SHOW, director Robert Redford's rousing recreation of a minor American tragedy. The year is 1958 and most of the country is watching NBC to see if reigning game show champion Herbie Stempel (John Tuturro) can beat newcomer Charles Van Doren (Ralph Finnes) on the popular game show "Twenty One." But what no one knows is that the game is rigged-- Stempel (and, to a degree, Van Doren) have been given the answers ahead of time! What sounds like a small-time scandal was big stuff back then and QUIZ SHOW is a handsome history lesson on the matter. The superb script by Paul Attanasio works on (too?) many levels, from father versus son to Jew versus gentile. The direction is as able as the acting, with Oscar-worthy work by Tuturro and Paul Scofield (playing the elder Van Doren). With the exception of a couple misplaced accents, the rest of the cast excels as well. Watch for good turns by Christopher McDonald, David Paymer, Martin Scorsese (!), and Barry Levinson (!!) as Today Show host Dave Garroway. (Rated "PG-13"/130 min.) Grade: A Copyright 1994 by Michael J. Legeros