''The Darwin Awards'' is a 2006 American adventure comedy film based on the website of the same name written and directed by

Finn Taylor Finn Taylor (born July 4, 1958) is an American film writer and director. Background Taylor was born in Oakland, California, and lived in Norway for a few years in his childhood. He attended the University of Montana and later San Francisco State ...

, the film premiered January 25, 2006, at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

. The film features Joseph Fiennes, Winona Ryder, David Arquette,

Juliette Lewis Juliette Lake Lewis (born June 21, 1973) is an American actress and alternative rock singer. She is known for her portrayals of offbeat characters, often in films with dark themes. Lewis became an "it girl" of American cinema in the early 1990s, ...

, Wilmer Valderrama, Chris Penn, Julianna Margulies,

Robin Tunney Robin Tunney (born June 19, 1972) is an American actress. Tunney made her film debut in the comedy ''Encino Man'' (1992) and rose to prominence with leading roles in the cult films ''Empire Records'' (1995) and '' The Craft'' (1996). Her perform ...

, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Brad Hunt, Adam Savage, Jamie Hyneman and

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

. This was Chris Penn's last movie before his death on January 24, 2006, the day before the film's premiere. The film includes several full and partial re-enactments of " Darwin Awards", the earliest of which were fictitious, most notably the debunked

JATO Rocket Car The account of the JATO Rocket Car was one of the original Darwin Awards winners: a man who supposedly met his death in a spectacular manner after mounting a JATO unit (a rocket engine used to help heavy aircraft to take off) onto an ordinary autom ...

story.

Plot

The film opens with a car with a JATO rocket strapped to it. The movie then shifts to Michael Burrows, a criminal profiler for the San Francisco Police Department. Shot in documentary style, the film is ostensibly a dissertation by a film school grad that follows Michael throughout the story. Fired from the police force after his

hematophobia Blood phobia (also known as hemophobia or hematophobia in American English and haemophobia or haematophobia in British English) is an extreme irrational fear of blood, a type of specific phobia. Severe cases of this fear can cause physical reacti ...

allows a serial killer to get away, Michael wallows in a deep depression for several weeks before coming up with a way to combine his Darwin Awards obsession with his talent for profiling. He will help insurance companies detect people more likely to accidentally end their own lives, so they are not sold insurance policies. After impressing an insurance company manager with his profiling talent, Michael is paired up with Siri, a specialist in strange insurance cases. Siri and Michael travel the country on behalf of the company, investigating several legendary examples of stupidity, such as the JATO rocket car. A pair of men attempting to ice fish become frustrated and use a stick of dynamite to blast a hole in the ice. The problem is their dog plays fetch with the lit dynamite and runs it back to their brand-new SUV. As they investigate the cases, Michael tries to pinpoint a common factor for these people. The only explanation is a confused monologue by Siri about insurance companies always denying claims and driving people insane. Michael narrowly avoids becoming a Darwin Award winner throughout the movie. He and Siri are stranded in the middle of nowhere on a cold night. Desperate for warmth, he attempts to start a fire with gasoline, causing his car to explode. Siri later confronts Michael, accusing him of being obsessed with the Darwin Awards. A twist of fate leads to Michael discovering where the murder suspect he originally allowed to escape now lives, as he videotapes the man in his home by rappelling down the side of the building. The film school student is seen for the first time as he, too, is hanging on the side of the building. The problem is his rope is the other end of the same one Michael is dangling by. The stone vase on the roof that the pair is anchored to starts inching closer to the edge. At the same time the serial killer taunts them while slicing open the captive Siri's hand, hoping to trigger Michael's hematophobia. But Michael is able to overcome his fear and defeats the serial killer.

Cast

* Joseph Fiennes as Michael Burrows * Winona Ryder as Siri Taylor * David Arquette as Harvey *

as Joleen * Wilmer Valderrama as NumbNuts * Chris Penn as Tom * Ty Burrell as Emile *

Kevin Dunn Kevin Dunn (born August 24, 1956) is an American actor who has appeared in supporting roles in a number of films and television series since the 1980s. Dunn's roles include White House Communications Director Alan Reed in the political comedy '' ...

as Insurance executive * Richmond Arquette as Mr. Pearlman * Nora Dunn as Mrs. Pearlman * Judah Friedlander as Simon * Lukas Haas as Farley * Tom Hollander as Henry * Brad Hunt as Stan * Julianna Margulies as Carla * Tim Blake Nelson as Perp * Alessandro Nivola as

Garry Hoy Garry Hoy (January 28, 1954 – July 9, 1993) was a Canadian lawyer who died when he fell from the 24th floor of his office building at the Toronto-Dominion Centre in Toronto, Ontario. In an attempt to prove to a group of prospective articling ...

* Max Perlich as Bob *

D. B. Sweeney Daniel Bernard Sweeney (born November 14, 1961) is an American actor. Early life Sweeney was born in Shoreham, New York, on November 14, 1961. He attended both Tulane and New York University. Career In 1990, Sweeney starred as Treplev in Jeff Co ...

as Detective Maguire *

as Themselves *

as Zoe * Rhett Ramirez as Andy * Jamie Hyneman as Military surplus dealer * Adam Savage as Military surplus dealer

Reception

The film was poorly received by critics, and received a 25% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.RottenTomatoes.com page for ''The Darwin Awards''
/ref> Critics typically complained that the film was formulaic and not funny.

References

External links

* for the "Darwin Awards" * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Darwin Awards, The Films based on urban legends 2006 films 2006 romantic comedy films American adventure comedy films American black comedy films American independent films American romantic comedy films American comedy road movies 2000s comedy road movies Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Blumhouse Productions films Films produced by Jason Blum Films scored by David Kitay Films set in San Francisco Films set in the San Francisco Bay Area 2000s English-language films 2000s American films