I saw this appear on Showtime and it looked like it was going to be interesting. I liked the way that the film paid homage to the web site and even showed it so that others not in the know could enjoy the delights of the site.I was a bit disappointed in the star billing of David Arquette, I expected him to have a bigger role. I know that he did take part in one of the more major "Darwin" stories but he wasn't really even close to being the main character.As far as the "awards" went, I would have liked to see more of them, maybe not as long as some of the big ones, little snippets like the one that starts the movie, I feel that this is the main reason people will want to watch the movie.The interpersonal relationship between the two main characters was somewhat interesting but I felt that it went a bit too far. Concerning the "documentary" film maker, that was just annoying and did not add much to the plot or the pace of the film; it was more of a distraction than anything else.Overall I gave this a 5 because I felt that it could have delivered much much more than it did but there is enough there to spend an hour and a half with.Finally the inclusion of the dudes from Muthbusters was great, they played it somewhat tongue in cheek which made it even funnier.

Nice. Simple. Hilarious. Description of stupidity's roots, small obsessions and accidents. Romantic pieces for a good taste. Some classical love story in the form of old recipes. And search of explanations for bizarres accidents. Nothing complicate, much gangs and a beautiful couple. Natural option for Sunday evening, simple piece of lost of time in a agreeable manner. In fact,insignificant and naive definition of human condition. Refuges, escapes and strives. Words and fate. All in a pink slop with expected happy end. An exercise to be child again. Far of adults life and careful observer. A film. Like many others. Spaces of dreams and graves for tension. So, a very nice movie.

While quite original in it's concept of studying people who kill themselves in incredibly stupid ways, the delivery is jumbled and not as entertaining as it might have been. If you were to lose the totally unnecessary documentary film maker and the ridiculous, cartoon-like serial killer, the movie would have benefited. When it is describing one of the outrageous idiots and their stunts, the film is in high gear. Unfortunately it repeatedly bogs down and this starting and stopping ruins the whole tone of "The Darwin Awards". I recommend simply checking out the idiotic segments and skipping the rest. This would have made a superior short, but as a feature it fails, because there is too much going on at once. Less would have been best. - MERK

The Darwin Awards is a quirky little independent film, loosely based on the website & spin-off books cataloging the real-life stories of people who have suffered accidents caused by their own stupidity. Any individuals who are killed are posthumously given a 'Darwin Award' for improving Mankind's gene pool by removing themselves from it.The movie stars Joseph Fiennes as a police profiler whose unfortunate tendency to faint at the sight of blood (he's phobic) causes him to get discharged from the force. Finding employment with an insurance company, he's partnered with experienced, hot-shot investigator Winona Ryder, who specialises in bizarre and unusual claims. Together the two of them travel back and forth across America, examining various strange accidents.One of the things I liked most about this film is that the accidents that Fiennes and Ryder investigate are all based on well known urban legends, and such modern-day myths have always fascinated me. I own many books on the subject, and have enjoyed previous movies that have either used an urban legend as a starting point and then built a story around it (for example, Dead Man's Curve, When a Stranger Calls, and Lover's Lane), or have featured several legends (all three Urban Legends movies, and the anthology film Campfire Tales). Therefore, I got a huge thrill seeing several urban legends reenacted in The Darwin Awards.Although it's an independent production, the movie has an impressive budget and features many big name stars in cameos (including Chris Penn in his last role - he died the day before the film debuted at Sundance). However it went straight to DVD, both in America and here in the UK. I suppose it's hard to market an offbeat, character-led black comedy in which most of the laughs are generated by people getting either seriously injured or killed. Personally, I liked it a lot.