Series 7: The Contenders

Wide-eyed, deadpan and, more often than not, note-perfect.

Minahan wants us to see ourselves in the dark mirror of this outrageously funny satire. He's built the laughs wisely so they stick in our throats.

Unpretentious and brashly exploitative.

The movie's mimicry of reality TV clichés is eerie, from the use of re-creations and supplemental footage (especially the experimental video Dawn and Jeff made together for a high school art project) to the smarmy commentary.

It's not the idea that people will kill each other for entertainment that makes Series 7 jolting. What the movie correctly perceives is that somewhere along the line we've lost all sense of shame in our society.

Seems stranded in that nowhereland between irony and sarcasm.

The movie's bright touches belong primarily to Brooke Smith.