The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (PG-13, 2007)

I sat down to watch King of Kong with my two children, ages 11 and 13, only having watched the trailer online. Normally I would never do that, but I figured it was a documentary, so how bad could it be? My son is a video game nut, so I knew he would be intrigued by it, and I know what Donkey Kong is, so I'd be OK, but I wasn't sure about my daughter, age 11. I did have to explain some things to her, not about the gaming, but about the way the adults were acting. My 11 year old daughter was the first one to point out that the adults were acting like they were still in middle school! I have to agree. The contestants in the tournaments were catty, back-biting, jeaslous, and egotistical. I thought the important lesson for her was, some people never outgrow this, and she needs to be prepared for it. Behavior like this occurs in all kinds of jobs, whether you're a secretary in an office, or a judge in a courthouse. The best remark she had was, "But they are grown ups, why are they acting like that? It's a video came, for crying out loud!!!" The film itself was brilliant in showing just exactly that point. The grand poo-bah of Donkey Kong was basking in the glow of something he accomplished more than twenty years ago. He still had the same hair cut! The challenger was in the here and now. He was willing to sacrifice whatever it took to beat the poo-bah, and he did it. David versus Goliath. Classic tale, same ending. Life lesson learned.