Answer This! (2011)

Comedy set in the world of competitive bar trivia, centering around a group of frustrated academics who finally get a shot at beer, women and nerdy redemption when they enter a citywide trivia tournament.

Director:

Christopher Farah

Writer:

Christopher Farah

Stars:

Christopher Gorham, Arielle Kebbel, Nelson Franklin

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Christopher Gorham	...	Paul Tarson
Arielle Kebbel	...	Naomi Nahar
Nelson Franklin	...	James Koogly
Evan Jones	...	Izzy 'Ice' Dasselway
Kip Pardue	...	Lucas Brannstrom
Kali Hawk	...	Shelly
Ralph Williams	...	Dr. Elliot Tarson
Chris Parnell	...	Brian Collins
Frank Zieger	...	Free Hug Guy
Julie Glander	...	Beth Tarson
Steve Abdo	...	Janitor
Nick Parisho	...	Trivia Chant Guy (as Nick 'Gimli' Parisho)
Ethan Gorham	...	Young Paul
Carrie Royce Fisk	...	Conservative Sarah (as Carrie Fisk)
Matt Lockwood	...	Stoner Chaz

Storyline

A brilliant trivia whiz, Paul Tarson (Christopher Gorham) is great at answering life's little questions, but horrible at answering the big ones. Now he and his friends will finally get a shot at beer, women and nerdy redemption when they enter the biggest challenge of their lives, a citywide pub trivia tournament. But when Paul falls for one of his students he'll find out that the little things are bigger than he bargained for and will have to make the biggest adult decision of his life!

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Plot Keywords:

trivia | beer | bar | pub trivia | contest | 

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Taglines:

Greatness is trivial.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sexual content, language and smoking

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

May 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Trivial Pursuits

Filming Locations:

Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

3, 4 Women Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

When Professor Tarson reads the story of Adam and Eve being kicked out of the Garden of Eden, he says he is reading from Genesis 3 but turns to the back of [what we must assume is] the Bible.

User Reviews

More than meets the eye; not formulaic

This is the academic equivalent of a movie where a big time college football coach raises his son to be a quarterback. The son thinks that this is what he wants, but it doesn't make him happy; so he looks to find something to make him happy -- in this case trivia contests and a disturbingly underage girl.

The football coach equivalent dad is a wonderful character, who is a non-actor, real college professor, who basically plays his real life self. His performance alone is worth the price of admission.

The movie portrays something which I haven't seen on the screen before, but which is something which goes on a lot in real world university campuses. Borderline sexual predation by a very mature graduate student, teaching assistant, and an incoming college freshman, straight out of high school. The movie raises just the right amount of discomfiture, but avoids overt creepiness by showing that the girl is much more mature and worldly-wise than is the older man. Ultimately, she controls their relationship, not he.

Along the way, there is gorgeous cinematography of a real Midwestern college town in autumn and several legitimate laugh out loud moments. The most formulaic moment is the ending -- directly inspired by Good Will Hunting, it would appear.

I'd give it 3 stars out of 4 -- since it's a movie about academia, a solid B+.

• Larry Weisenthal/Huntington Beach CA