In a perfect world, Rick Rosner would be a bigger role model than the lead singer of Korn. He is a genius, and he has a habit of pursuing things until he’s satisfied with the outcome. “Errol Morris’ First Person: One in a Million Trillion — An Interview With Rick Rosner” is a 55 minute interview with the man, and in that time frame, one quickly realizes just how scary this guy could be if he ever turned to the dark side.
Rosner, with fake IDs, put himself through high school several times in order to build his IQ (which he falsely believed to be lower than what it was). In his free time, he worked as a nude model and a stripper. These days he’s a bouncer. In addition to those things, which seem at odds with his intellect, Rosner also worked on a theory about the age of the universe. At one point he gets on that monster of a game show called “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” That’s when fate starts screwing with him.
Rosner’s first time on the show left him a victim of a flubbed fastest finger challenge. Determined to remedy that situation, Rosner gets on the show again a year later and makes it to the center circle. When he gets to the $16,000 question, he blows it. He doesn’t get the answer wrong — there wasn’t a right answer. The question was flawed, and he spends the next two years proving it.
Few people who aren’t artists are this captivating to listen to, and Morris has a knack of getting the best out of his subjects. Unfortunately, most people have probably never heard of Rosner, making this film mandatory viewing. If anything, it should be shown to school children to serve as an inspiration. All I saw in high school was “Rambo,” and look how I turned out.
