For New Jersey youth in the 70s and 80s, visiting (and surviving) Action Park was a rite of passage. The sprawling combination of water park, motor park and general bacchanal was the brainchild of Gene Mulvihill, a disgraced former penny-stock pusher who counted the cash as his park became a rule-free stew of dangerous rides, teen guests, teen employees, raging hormones, 80s-style machismo and booze.

The HBO Max original documentary Class Action Park (one of the parks winking nicknames; Traction Park was another) attempts a tricky balancing act, reveling in the hedonism of the attraction while treating the consequences of that hedonism with appropriate gravitas. The directors Chris Charles Scott and Seth Porges sneak the viewer behind the turnstiles by deploying John Hodgmans wry narration, giddily kitschy archival materials and interviews with park employees, celebrity patrons and journalists. Scott and Porges spend a fair amount of their running time on a detailed walk-through of the rides (many of them designed by people on the fringes of the industry) and their various corresponding dangers and injuries as well as the shamelessly shady business practices of its owner.

The grimness begins to creep in around the hour mark, as cheerful injuries and battle scars give way to horrifying stories of electrocution and drowning, as well as details behind the parks first death, the 19-year-old George Larsson Jr., complete with wrenching testimonials by his surviving family. Shockingly, there were five more deaths in the next seven years; the filmmakers detail how Mulvihill used his increasing power, influence and checkbook to dodge responsibility for them.

Class Action Park loses its footing somewhat in the closing passages; Scott and Porges dont seem to know quite how to wrap things up, and the films big tonal shift is a turning point that is all but impossible to come back from. (The incongruent feel-good vibe of the Holladay Brothers score does more harm than good.) But that shift is effective, and necessary, slyly replicating the experience of visiting Action Park itself: its all fun and games until someone gets hurt.

Class Action Park

Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 30 minutes. Watch on HBO Max.

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Class Action Park Review: Thanks for the Injuries - The New York Times