The Darwin Awards (2006)
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25% of critics liked it
(12 reviews) -
45% of users liked it
(6,392 ratings)
When a San Francisco homicide detective with a keen eye for criminal profiling is fired for botching the arrest of a notorious serial killer, his subsequent effort to reinvent himself as an insurance claims case-investigator leads him to study a series of perplexing wrongful deaths in this comedy… More When a San Francisco homicide detective with a keen eye for criminal profiling is fired for botching the arrest of a notorious serial killer, his subsequent effort to reinvent himself as an insurance claims case-investigator leads him to study a series of perplexing wrongful deaths in this comedy starring Joseph Fiennes, Winona Ryder, Tim Blake Nelson, and Wilmer Valderrama. Michael Burrows (Fiennes) isn't your typical detective. Though Detective Burrows is a paranoid obsessive-compulsive who faints at the sight of blood, his remarkable insight into the criminal mindset has nevertheless made him a valuable asset to the San Francisco Police Department. When Detective Burrows' idiosyncrasies allow the feared "North Beach Killer" to elude capture, however, he is fired by his superiors. Upon offering his unique skills to a doubting insurance company, Burrows is given 30 days in which to prove he can sort out the legitimate claims from the false ones. Now, as Burrows makes for the Midwest in the company of hard-nosed field agent Siri Tyler (Ryder), the film student (Valderrama) who has been following the former detective for his thesis follows the pair as they investigate a series of forehead-slapping deaths, including that of a powerful executive who attempts to prove that his high-rise window is unbreakable and a pair of English tourists who fatally misinterpret the "cruise control" function on their rented RV. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Directed By
- Finn Taylor
- Genres
- Drama, Action & Adventure, Comedy
- In Theaters
- Jul 5, 2006 Wide
Critic Reviews
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Ruthe Stein, San Francisco Chronicle
The humor dissipates as we watch one weird death after another.
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James Greenberg, Hollywood Reporter
Taylor and his friends seem to be having a great time but could have let the audience in on the joke.
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Dennis Harvey, Variety
Sports too many formulaic weaknesses of mainstream laffers while straining for an indie cred that hitherto came naturally to writer-director Finn Taylor.
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Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
A delightful, winning tribute to those annual kudos given to people who died from sheer stupidity, thereby improving the gene pool.
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Kevin Carr, 7M Pictures
If writer/director Finn Taylor could have made up his mind about the movie he was making, it would have held together better.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Joseph Fiennes
as Michael Burrows
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Winona Ryder
as Siri Tyler
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Tim Blake Nelson
as North Beach Killer
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Wilmer Valderrama
as Film Student
- David Arquette
- Ty Burrell
- Josh Charles
- Kevin Dunn
- Nora Dunn
- Judah Friedlander
- Lukas Haas
- Tom Hollander
- Brad Hunt
- Juliette Lewis
- Julianna Margulies
- Alessandro Nivola
- Chris Penn
- Max Perlich
- D.B. Sweeney
- Robin Tunney
- Tom Wright
- Adonal Foyle
- Jamie Hyneman
- Adam Savage
- Richmond Arquette
- Mick Breitenstein
- Josh Kornbluth
- Jerry Harrison
- John Doe
- Lawrence Ferlinghetti
- Metallica
- Ross Patterson
- George Maguire (I)
