Hard Problems: documentary about the 2006 IMO

There is a documentary called Hard Problems: The Road to the World's Toughest Math Contest available from amazon.com
which focuses on the 2006 United States team in the International Mathematical Olympiad. I'm interested to learn about its existence. I'm inclined to view it as a cinematic analogue of Count Down: Six Kids Vie for Glory at the World's Toughest Math Competition, a book about the US team at the 2001 IMO which I rather liked. (Of course, it's possible that my soft spot for the book exists because I like to think I could have been on the 2001 IMO team.)

Bringing Down The House

From the MIT News Office: Film loosely based on MIT blackjack team opens Friday. (That's Friday, March 28.) The film is based on the book Bringing Down The House. I haven't seen it, and I probably won't, because it hasn't gotten the best reviews. Also, I generally tend to dislike movies that take place in fictionalized versions of places I know; they look all wrong. (A Beautiful Mind and Good Will Hunting come to mind. Also, 10th and Wolf, which has nothing to do with math, but is set around the corner from where I was born in Philadelphia, and was filmed in Pittsburgh.)

Anyway, the press release says:

Most notably, the character played by Kevin Spacey, portrayed as an MIT professor, is entirely fictional. While his irresponsible acts may enliven the Hollywood script, they are entirely unrepresentative of the Institute.

I wonder if their legal department told them to say that. They also point out that real MIT students are good at math too! This is true.