We've all seen someone die on television.
Any number of contestants have been crucified on Family Fortunes. Many's the celebrity-obsessed non-entity who's expired on Big Brother. Lenny Henry's died on his arse on every telly show he's ever been in.
The difference here is that someone really does meet their maker. Does shuffle off their mortal coil. One minute they're on the box, the next they're being carried off in one.
They're the ultimate victim of Live!, a ratings-chasing American TV reality show where six contestants line up in front of a studio audience to point the barrel of a revolver at their temple and pray the single bullet in the chamber hasn't got their name on it.
The ruthless game - with its lure of a $5m prize for each of the five surviving players -is the brainchild of network executive Eva Mendes who figures "people wanna watch what they wanna watch".
To this end, she takes up the Russian Roulette format and runs with it, fending off the objections of the network lawyer, broadcast regulator the FCC and even Congress in her battle to get it on the airwaves.
The whole despicable charade is watched by fly-on-the-wall documentary maker Rex (Krumholtz), who is initially repelled and then seduced by the prospect of a gameshow contestant blowing their brains out on live telly.
First-time feature director Bill Guttentag cites the historical precedent of the Colosseum and the French revolution as examples of the death-as-spectator-sport phenomenon.
However, despite ever more outlandish real-life pitches being presented to the networks (Monkey Tennis?), the roulette concept is one that is just too divorced from reality. You never really buy it.
Where it works is the all-too-willing sequence of potential contestants - gay Latino, supermodel-turned perfomance artist, pole dancing wannabe actress - who will do anything for recognition or the readies.
However, in a world where reality show formats are beyond parody, this particular gun goes off half-cocked.
Tim Evans
