Fletcher Conner This movie had potential. It had a interesting premise, people who kill themselves through their own sheer stupidity, but struggled to create a plot to draw the view in. Joseph Fiennes awkwardly plays a police personality profiler turned insurance claims investigator who faints at the sight of blood and can't figure out social interactions. He gets paired up with a no-nonsense insurance claims investor played by Winona Ryder, and they go cross country investigating and debunking the claims of various Darwin Award types who hurt themselves through their ridiculous actions. The movie is filled with brief appearances by recognizable TV actors like Ty Burrell, Julianna Marguiles, Josh Charles, Tim Blake Nelson, Juliette Lewis, and David Arquette. There is even a brief appearance Mythbusters' Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, who have debunked several of the stories featured in the movie on their show. However, the laughs and only occasional, and the time in between them could best be described as plodding. The movie isn't terrible, but there is probably a more entertaining way you could kill 90 minutes.

Merrick Gray (BlackAngel_2021) Ah, the Darwin Awards, the epitome of poor life choices and a literal how-to guide of what NOT to do with a disposable income and an excess of free time. In 2006, this collection of ridiculous situations that resulted in death had the good fortune to be presented on the big screen. Unfortunately, I've noticed that a shocking number of people were disappointed with this film.Granted, Joseph Fiennes and Winona Ryder's characters being the uptight, overly cautious man and the free spirited, devil-may-care woman isn't a terribly original concept, but I felt that it was easy to get past considering how well they played their parts. Apart from that, the cast of this film features a laundry list of familiar faces, including a cameo from Alex and Jamie from Mythbusters and an appearance by Metallica, which, as a metalhead, I absolutely loved.Now, for the film itself. Joseph Fiennes plays a brilliant criminal profiler for the San Francisco Police Department and specializes in homicides, which is unfortunate for him as he has hematophobia, causing him to faint at the sight of blood. He's being followed by a college student (Wilmer Valderrama) who is filming him for a documentary. Fiennes is soon let go from his job after fainting while trying to apprehend a suspected serial killer, allowing him to escape. Afterwards, he develops an interest in the Darwin Awards and goes to an insurance agency claiming he can identify these individuals with this "X Factor" which will save the agency millions of dollars in insurance claims. He is then paired with a claims investigator (Ryder) and is given four weeks to travel across the country and investigate a number of claims to prove he can do what he says he can do. The movie is filled with re-enactments of actual Darwin Award cases, and despite most being gruesome, they're all filled with countless laughs. For some people, I can see how this may not be the best of movies, so it certainly helps if you have a slightly twisted sense of humor. Overall, it was a fine comedy filled with a great cast, excellent acting, and as much laughter as there was blood. I definitely recommend you watch this film at least once if you have a couple hours to spare, and in the end, it has a great message. While Fiennes' character wanted to find a way to prevent these Darwin cases, he realizes he can't save the world and learns the one ultimate truth of the universe: Sh*t happens...

DayzeeJoy The Darwin Awards was too well written for the substandard acting of Winona Ryder and Joseph Fiennes who were very privileged to be given the main roles. It was full of funny concepts, twists, and turns; but fell short of the gut-busting laughter that I had hoped for. I can say, however, that I won't forget the movie because the back-up casting was excellent and helped keep my attention between nodding off and hovering my finger over the "stop" button on my remote. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this movie to a friend as a "good" movie to watch, but rather something to watch if someone is home sick on a Friday night with either this or "Nanny Dearest" to choose from to keep them remotely distracted from fever, chills, and general discomfort...such as I did.

surge9000 It seemed a bit disjointed. I plan to watch it a couple more times, but I'm only writing this after the 1st viewing and I was mostly going 'Huh?' through the plot related bits. Partly because the actors were mumbling, and partly because I suspect there was a lot edited out that shouldn't have been. Y'know, so it fit into the typical 90 minute format.I've read nearly all of the darwin award incidences portrayed (as well as those that didn't qualify 'cos no one got killed, like the dense eurotrash girl that didn't understand cruise control). All of them were hilariously done. Or maybe I need to see a psychiatrist.Anyway, I LOVE intelligent, well thought out films you need to watch a few times to really 'get'. Warner Ho's- uh I mean, Bro's, have really found the sweet spot with their usual Batman films and so on. They always get good reviews 'cos they're so moronic, you only have to watch them once, but if you're the type thats utterly bored of that stuff, go see this instead.I laughed so hard at the frontmen of Mythbusters as illegal weapons dealers, I think it just cured my lung cancer. +1 point.And then there's the whole homicide investigator that faints at the sight of blood thing. +1 point. Mostly for not dwelling on it so long that it became annoyingly stupid. That could have been a disaster, but it was handled well. In fact, it was so well done, that I wonder if a lot of previous reviewers even saw the irony in it.And so on... In short; it's not 'Dr. Strangelove' brilliant, because it will age very fast (although I bet you a million bucks 'ol Stanley didn't think of that either, at the time), but it's pretty good now.