Harrison Bergeron

In a future North American society, the government enforces total equality by handicapping its citizens so that no one can think, look or perform above anyone else. Harrison Bergeron is different: his intelligence resists the system, and he is ordered to undergo a brain operation meant to bring him into line. Before it can happen, he is drawn into a hidden world where the elite live surrounded by art, music and ideas, and where the ideals of equality turn out to serve something else entirely.

This Showtime adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's short story was directed by Bruce Pittman, its screenplay written by Jon Glascoe and Arthur Crimm. It was made in Canada by Atlantis Films and runs 99 minutes. Sean Astin plays Harrison, with Miranda de Pencier, Eugene Levy, Howie Mandel, Andrea Martin and Christopher Plummer among a credited cast of 48. Pittman's earlier feature Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II came in 1987; this film followed in 1995, and Locked in Silence and The Secret Path both came in 1999.

Audience response has been favorable but modest in scale. On IMDb it holds a 7.2 rating from around 2,900 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 6.8 from a much smaller base of 58 votes.