Review of The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007) by Mark N — 21 Oct 2009

A great documentary usually sheds light through a narrow prism on a larger topic. King of Kong examines an esoteric geekdom of 80's coin op players and reveals much more about the American dream then a half dozen films. In some ways the fact that people are so obsessed for such low stakes make the character's look meaner (or nobler) then might be the case. Niceley shot and edited (maybe too well..as the film can hardly be called non-fiction as it really creates a meta space where it puts events out of order etc).

Nevertheless, Gordon has some talent in bringing the film together and in the villain (?) Billy Mitchell you have a character you could not write in your wildest dreams.