Shooting the Warwicks

source: Reality Show

One of the most depressing and disgusting movies I've ever watched . Destroying lives and killing for the sake of ratings. Lies, manipulations, deceipt and fake conflict that lead to real life consequences that Hollywood producers and executives thrive on. Trust no one. There is no such thing as reality TV.

This film is about a new TV program that follows a family and films everything they do. However they are picked at random and do not know they are being filmed. They are pretty much the perfect family and so boring for TV so they are manipulated to liven things up. I am not sure if this was amateurish or if some of the script was improvised and it was meant to come over that way. It is interesting and terrifying at the same time about how people can be manipulated. It really does sum up current "reality" TV even if the ending is a bit over the top. On the one hand it is an interesting film about good people being manipulated for someone else's benefit. On the other it is a scary look at just what TV directors and producers can achieve. Regardless it is a good watch and still relevant nowadays.

What an incredible movie! It was very funny and became really scary as one starts to realize what media probably could, can and certainly will do in the near future. It gave me the same goose bumps as I watched "Enemy of the State" again after 12 years.In 1998 critics said about latter movie too much science fiction and since Edward Snowden and NSA we know it's more like a documentary. The same will be said about "Shooting the Warwicks" in 10 years. A movie one shouldn't miss.

This was one of the most depressing movies I've seen in a long time on so many different levels. First and foremost is that there are actually people in the "Arts and Entertainment" industry that would do the things that were done to the Warwick family. Second, the degeneration of what was a relatively happy family into one that literally cannibalized itself. I honestly don't know if I felt worse watching good people go bad as a result of hidden issues or if the outside forces manipulating the events that led to the destruction of the Warwick family were without any moral or ethical boundaries. Frankly it made me ill. This movie may be a prelude to what the "news" media is devolving into.

I'm actually quite shocked that this film didn't make more of a splash. It's been a year since it ran a limited theatrical run and didn't even get reviewed that much outside of a fairly positive mention on NPR, which I can say I'm glad I heard. I don't usually waste time going over synopses in reviews, but as of today there's so little said about the film that I will. The premise I found to be absolutely delightful in a dark and morbid way similar to NIGHTCRAWLER in which unscrupulous characters in the TV industry go about ruining the lives of regular people in order to make money. Here, we see director Adam Rifkin (who is easily the best thing about the movie) as a sleazy reality show producer who successfully pitches a show about a family chosen completely at random, with hidden cameras installed in the family's house while they are on a surprise vacation. The problem is there's just not enough family drama to make for good TV and time is running out. Things become much more fun (and twisted) when several actors are hired to enter the family's life, which shows how delicate Normalcy can be and how easily it can be completely ripped apart. Mainly I'd call myself a fan of this film's potential. It could have gone from good to great, had it improved on three major areas. These are: 1) Acting. A few of the performances feel quite amateurish and inconsistent though they do certainly improve as the film goes along. Remember you're seeing the actors' season's worth of professional growth in 90 minutes. While things come together eventually, the acting certainly cuts down on the film's edge by detracting from the "reality" it's making a commentary on. Watch for some really awkward dialog with the actors playing the unsuspecting family saying things like "what a great vacation that was!" right after returning to their home after a vacation. 2) Realism. Similarly, the film fails to stay true to its own logic and just provides too many head-scratching moments to take seriously. The whole premise of the film is based on how a reality show can overlook lawsuits by getting ratings and endorsements, but no show can air on TV depicting its own violation of several laws, especially actors knowingly contributing to the delinquency of a minor and minor consumption of alcohol. Also, how did the show's crew "hack" into all those phones, into the father's workplace computer, and place cameras in not just his workplace but the local high school and police station? Was EVERYBODY in on it? 3) Visual Effects. There's a lot of great effects (such as a hilariously over-the-top scene later in the film in which an animal is killed) here and there, but most of the more violent action in the film's final act relies on post-production CGI blood which just doesn't carry the weight it needs to (especially when added to "found" footage) and distracts from the shocks. However, by no means would I call this an ineffective film. It's quite engrossing and was difficult to step away from. It even left me pretty rattled after completing it and I found myself talking a thinking about the movie a lot over the following weeks. SHOOTING THE WARWICKS comes off as exactly the low budget film that it is, yes, but certainly overcomes its limits by providing some solid shocks and thrills aided immensely by its intriguing premise. It's the R-Rated, morally bankrupt cousin of THE TRUMAN SHOW.

Trailer—Reality Show

Reality Show