Static Zombie

Scrabylon

If you've read Word Freak, then Scott Petersen's new documentary Scrabylon isn't really anything new. You've already met most of these people, and at greater length. But we do get to associate faces and voices with the names, and the images of Joe Edley doing tai chi among the tables of the National Scrabble Championships speaks volumes.

The most revelatory moment for me came with the all-too-brief coverage of the Championship's final match. The filmmaker really blew it here, missing a great opportunity to capture the tension and drama so obviously present in the moment. In fact, with the room full of onlookers riveted to closed-circuit monitors and second-guessing the players, it reminded me a great deal of the World Series of Poker. With the advent of the World Poker Tour series, it's clear that this kind of event can be compelling television. I'd have loved to see the whole hour devoted to these matches. I hope ESPN or a similar venue will cover the next Scrabble championship, with color commentary and play-by-play from experts ("Joe's got a bingo on that rack-- playing PACHYDERM through the C and D would net him 94 points-- but it's a hard find; he might go for HYDRAE instead"). Word Freak author Stefan Fatsis, a regular on NPR, seems a natural for the job. In the meantime, Scrabylon barely scratches the surface of the intense world Fatsis exposed in Word Freak. Read the book.