Competitive Eating Isn’t Just for July

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MOVIE REVIEW
ScarfFace (Scarf Face)
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Genre: Documentary
Year Released: 2021
Runtime: 1h 17m
Director(s): Joe Ruzer, Sean Slater
Writer(s): Sean Slater
Interviews: Joey Chestnut, Crazy Legs Conti, Brian Dudzinski, Tim Janus, Edward Jarvis, Takeru Kobayashi, Juan Morebite, Molly Schuyler, Matt Stonie, Miki Sudo, Sonya Thomas
Where To Watch: Premiering in theaters and virtual cinema 6/3

Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest is front and center in this documentary about the side of competitive eating that we don’t hear about often. Sure, we hear about Joey “Jaws” Chestnut and Takeru “The Tsunami” Kobayashi each year around the 4th of July, but that’s just the tip of the food iceberg.

The contest's history can be traced back to July 4, 1916, when “Nathan's promoter Mortimer "Morty" Matz claimed four immigrants held a hot dog eating contest at Nathan's Famous stand on Coney Island to settle an argument about who was the most patriotic.” Although as of late, the claims of this have been questioned. At best, some more specific dates and results are sporadic through the 50s and 60s. The 70s, 80s, and 90s saw more documented results, and during the late 90s, the contest took hold and has become a yearly event to much fanfare.

The world of competitive eating goes a lot deeper than I ever thought, and I feel like even this documentary only brushes the surface, including deaths resulting from low potassium (with mixed results on whether it was linked to competitive eating) to a Tufts University student passing away last year during a charity eating contest. There are also issues with the dark side of sponsorships and issues of Major League Eating (MLE) banning Kobayashi because he refused to sign a contract granting them a portion of his sponsorship money. Then there’s the issue of some very problematic stories about seven-time champion Miki Sudo.

I was intrigued by the story of Chestnut and his up and down career. I hadn’t realized that there was a challenge to his title via up-and-comer Matt Stonie. While on the surface, many would probably think about a film like this as a parody or joke, there are several points brought up that make you think about the deeper aspects of this world.

Ultimately the film is an enjoyable documentary on a world that we traditionally only hear about once a year and how much more there is behind it all. I would’ve liked to have seen a deeper dive into the preparation these professionals go through to accomplish these incredible feats of human nature. While I pride myself in being able to down some impressively large meals, I don’t think I could even touch the 70+ mark in an hour, let alone 10 minutes.

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