Review: Rock Paper Scissors: A Geek Tragedy (2007)

[Steve Rhodes]

ROCK PAPER SCISSORS: A GEEK TRAGEDY
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2009 Steve Rhodes

RATING (0 TO ****):  ***

"A bunch of morons in Toronto, Canada held a competition to play Rock Paper 
Scissors," one of CNN's better known talking heads says in compete ridicule. 
He knows a real sport when he sees one, and Rock Paper Scissors is not one 
of them.  But players like a guy known as Master Roshambollah would 
disagree.  Calling himself the Bobby Fischer of the sport, he thinks he has 
the right strategies to psyche out his opponents and win.

Other players take a Zen approach to their techniques, reasoning, "Be the 
rock, be the paper, be the scissors."

Still others who want to compete at the world level of the competition think 
it has to do with their bodies, which can be used for distraction.  One guy, 
talking about his edge, says, "cute in the face, tight in the waist, I'm a 
Rock Paper Scissors player's worst nightmare."

Tell me about the screening of a documentary on some really off-the-wall 
subject, and I'm there.  There is nothing like the sheer joy of watching 
films on such diverse subjects as role playing games in the woods (MONSTER 
CAMP), middle school elections (THE THIRD MONDAY IN OCTOBER) or the history 
of the drive-in (DRIVE-IN MOVIE MEMORIES).

But it isn't enough just to pick some obscure subject.  You also need to 
find a filmmaker talented enough to draw you into the story and make it come 
alive, not just be wacky.  One such director is Mike McKeown, whose ROCK 
PAPER SCISSORS is a very funny look at a kids' game played at a world 
championship level.  It's also the story of two brothers, Douglas and Graham 
Walker, and their continuing struggle to market the sport.  Is theirs a 
rags-to-riches story?  Not really.  More like a rags-to-rags story.

Let's get this out of the way first.  One of the questions at the screening 
that I attended was whether ROCK PAPER SCISSORS: A GEEK TRAGEDY is a 
mockumentary.  In other words, did this film follow several real Rock Paper 
Scissors (RPS) tournaments or was this all some elaborate hoax.  It is real. 
Although the competitors keep their sport very tongue-in-cheek -- sometimes 
dressing in crazy outfits -- they do compete for prizes and the honor of 
calling themselves a world champion.

The movie follows high profile players like C. Urbanus, who spends his days 
working a game of chance -- spin the wheel to win a prize -- at an old 
boardwalk amusement park.  He considers himself a master of RPS strategy, 
but he has the bad luck to get eliminated in the first round of almost every 
major tournament he has played in.

Whether having crazy professions are prerequisites to gaining fame in the 
RPS world isn't clear, but some of the sport's most well-known players do 
have some pretty unusual backgrounds.  Master Roshambollah is by far the 
most well known.  After a stint at Arthur Anderson, he switched professions 
when they went under in the wake of the Enron scandal.  Now he works two 
jobs, one as the "piercer" at a tattoo parlor and one as a psychic at an 800 
psychic hotline.

In a movie that would appear certain to have lots of laughs but few twists 
possible, the story takes a sharp turn in the last act, when, out of 
nowhere, a rival pops up to the Walker brothers' official world-wide 
organization for Rock Paper Scissors.  Throwing out more money and hiring 
ex-Playboy Playmates to advertise the sport, the new league becomes 
something like the rival XFL to the traditional NFL.  The new league will be 
playing the same game, but with more extreme promotions.

As we start to feel sorry for the lovable Walker brothers, it's easy to be 
thinking illogically to yourself, "there oughta be a law ..."

Oh well, even if the Walker brothers appear to be losing control of their 
sport, director Mike McKeown never loses control of his movie, which is 
uniformly hilarious and entertaining.

ROCK PAPER SCISSORS runs 1:28.

The film is being shown as part of San Jose's Cinequest Film Festival 
(www.Cinequest.org), which runs February 25 to March 8, 2009.

Web: http://www.InternetReviews.com
Email: Steve.Rhodes at InternetReviews.com

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