The Darwin Awards

R

2006

1 hr. 34 min.

Comedy

List

25%

12 Reviews

Tomatometer

45%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

After botching the capture of a notorious serial killer, idiosyncratic detective Michael Burrows (Joseph Fiennes) loses his job with the San Francisco Police. He becomes an investigator for an insurance company and joins forces with a cynical field agent (Winona Ryder) to probe suspicious and unusual deaths.

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Steve D

The cast of a good film is here as is the premise. It needs a script.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/01/24

Full Review

Audience Member

An entertaining and fun movie to watch with stupid deaths

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/07/23

Full Review

Audience Member

One thing i love is..this is almost a reunion of Winona Ryder and Lukas Haas..should be..wish to see them in one scene!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/16/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Comedia ligera para el lucimiento de Finnes y mi adorada Winona Ryder, pelicula mas cercana a un telefim con muchos cameos incluidos del grupo Metallica.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Fiennes and Ryder come into contact with numerous cameos on a "10,000 Ways to Die" road trip. Not especially funny, but I liked seeing familiar actors. Even the Mythbusters are in a scene.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

Full Review

Audience Member

There's a kernel of potential quality contained somewhere in the screenplay; the rocket car and Metallica concert segments play out reasonably well. But Taylor's direction everywhere else is beyond incompetent, especially in any scene involving Fiennes, who himself puts in a god-awful performance. I've been curious about this movie for a while now, and only really watched it to answer the question, "How does one make a movie out of the Darwin Awards?" The answer is one probably shouldn't.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

01/30/23

Full Review

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Finn Taylor

Director

Joseph Fiennes

Michael Burrows

Winona Ryder

Siri Tyler

Tim Blake Nelson

North Beach Killer

David Arquette

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Alessandro Nivola

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Ruthe Stein

San Francisco Chronicle

The humor dissipates as we watch one weird death after another.

Rated: 2/4

Sep 7, 2007

Full Review

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.

Jan 31, 2006

Full Review

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.

Jan 26, 2006

Full Review

Reel.com

Rated: 3/4

Oct 20, 2007

Full Review

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.

Rated: 3/4

Sep 13, 2007

Full Review

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.

Rated: 2/5

Sep 9, 2007

Full Review

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Synopsis

After botching the capture of a notorious serial killer, idiosyncratic detective Michael Burrows (Joseph Fiennes) loses his job with the San Francisco Police. He becomes an investigator for an insurance company and joins forces with a cynical field agent (Winona Ryder) to probe suspicious and unusual deaths.

Director: Finn Taylor
Executive Producer: Steven Siebert
Screenwriter: Finn Taylor
Rating: R (Sexuality|Language|Drug Use|Violent Images)
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (DVD): Jul 31, 2007
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital