The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters

Running Time: 79 minutes MPAA rating: PG-13
GRADE: A- if you're a nerd; C+ for Just Plain Folks

King Features If you were between the ages of 12 and 25 in the early 1980s, you probably spent hundreds of hours -- and quarters -- in arcades playing video games. One of the most difficult and frustrating of all arcade games of that era was "Donkey Kong."

The game was so hard to master that, in my town, if you could get to the third screen you were considered a god. To read about guys who'd beat the game and made it all the way to the Kill Screen seemed like a feat that could only be accomplished via a pact with Beelzebub himself.

In fact, if you know what a Kill Screen is, then you will love "The King of Kong." This documentary is right up your alley. If you've never played an arcade game and really have no interest in the subculture of classic gamers, then this film may still entertain you in parts, but it just won't be the great cinematic experience you were hoping for.

The film revolves around two men vying for the world-record score for "Donkey Kong." The first guy is Billy Mitchell, an obnoxious, self-absorbed jackass with a feathered mullet who has held the record for 25 years. In other words, a loser in his 40s who is still trying to hang on to a minor achievement from his teens.

The second guy is Steve Weibe, a middleschool science teacher, family man and allround nice guy who takes up the challenge on a whim to see if it's possible to break the score. What Weibe doesn't realize is that there is a small cottage industry built around Mitchell's 25-year-old success, and a lot of get-a-lifes who'd rather Weibe didn't attempt to break the record.

Director Seth Gordon does a great job of shedding light on this goofy and obsessive subculture; and he especially does great work in keeping the tone lighthearted and not so serious. The only problem I had with the film was that there are a few too many scenes that are padded out. At 79 minutes, "Kong" would've been a much better film if it had been trimmed to about an hour. ¦

(c) 2007 King Features Synd., Inc.