Real Genius (1985)

This is a funny comedy movie from the 80's that just works thanks mainly to the spot on cast. Granted, Val Kilmer kind of steals the show. The movie has a simple enough plot to begin with and through the course of the movie gets bigger and bigger till it "pops". A very intelligent kid is coming on board at a school for very smart guys, can not remember if it is a college or just an advanced high school. He is a bit out of place, however, he is going to get to meet this legend. Unfortunately, this legend is not at all what he expects clowning around and such and being a rather fun guy. Granted he has a very good reason for this later in the movie. The movie has great scenes where the smart kids make it so dry ice is formed in the halls of the dorm and at one point they have a pool party. They are all in the end working on this laser project which is the central plot point in the film and what makes the plot go from just your typical school type movie to something a bit more. It ends on a very funny note and great ending scene too. So all in all a funny movie with likable characters, I prefer this "nerds" to the ones in "Revenge of the Nerds". Also, the first time I heard the very good Tears for Fears song "Everybody wants to rule the World".

Fmovies: This is one of those movies that is just perfect..the 80s were a time of daring movies, and that usually meant that you either had crap or a gem...this movie is one of those gems...the direction, soundtrack, acting is so good you don't even notice it.

This was on Comedy Central today and (except for commercials)i couldn't change the channel. I knew every line even though i hadn't seen it in about 2 years.

I love love love love this movie. It's freaking brilliant. You get so much out of it. Like, physics students are cool. Val Kilmer should've done more comedy. And the guy who plays Dr. Hathaway steals almost every scene. A must-see.

I've noticed that some people who've commented on REAL GENIUS do not appear impressed. This must be either because they lack a sense of humor or simply don't know a good movie when they see one. Val Kilmer is hysterical, the script is filled with clever one-liners. William Atherton is THE ego-meniacle bad guy. And Chris Knight and Mitch Taylor have a guy named Lazlow living in their closet. Come on, this film is terrific. I could watch this film every day. It's that good.

Real Genius fmovies. First off: This is an 80s movie. It contains within it certain aspects of the 80s film genre which may cause you to cringe. A youthful, innocent boy gets corrupted by the feckless rebel; a vicious adult has his own agenda; boy gets seduced by teenage girl who may or may not be the current sex symbol. All generalizations aside, the roles in this movie are well-written and well-played. Val Kilmer is at his absolute best, William Atherton is as sly as Jeffrey Jones is oafish in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off." The supporting heroine is annoying and unneeded, but who needs her when you've got Jonathan Gries to laugh at? All-around fun and plenty of one-liners that'll have you wishing you could be so witty.

It is unfortunate that Val Kilmer so quickly "graduated" from the realm of youth oriented roles, as his work in Real Genius is by far the most enjoyable to watch. Kilmer proves adept at excellent comic timing, and he is given a motherlode of razor-sharp one-liners to fire off in every scene (I speculate that writer Pat Proft enjoyed watching The Marx Brothers in his formative years). Chief drawback of this film is the hammy, sneering villain played by Atherton -- as the old saying goes, just give him a mustache to twirl. But if you happened to see the film as a young person, the above-mentioned won't get in the way of your fond memories. I sure know that every time I see that slow-motion romp through the popcorn and hear Tears for Fears' "Everybody Wants to Rule the World," ramp up on the soundtrack, my cynicism just melts away.

The imagination and quality of Hollywood movies in the early and mid 80's had regressed back to the pre "Bonnie and Clyde" days (the early and mid-60's being the worst ever period of American movie-making).

Fortunately there were a few gems like "Real Genius" to sustain audiences. Any film that features a memorable moment like Deborah Foreman's articulation of her standards for a male companion, a memorable character like Michelle Meyrink's hyper-kinetic Jordon, and the memorable sight of a house exploding from the force of a giant Jiffy Pop container can never be forgotten.

And who doesn't feel good just watching the neighborhood kids play in a mountain of popcorn to the sound of Tears For Fears' "Everybody Wants To Rule The World".

Although "Real Genius" has not totally escaped the ravages of the past 20 years, it has held up reasonably well. Now it can even be appreciated as a sort of time capsule, demonstrating rather strikingly the complete computerization of the applied sciences that has occurred during the relatively short time period since its 1985 release. Other than Kent's incidental use of an early computer in his dorm room and a mostly decorative monitor in the lab, these now essential machines are absent from this techno film. Amazing!

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.