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Real Genius

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Real Genius (1985)

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Reviews Counted: 23

Fresh: 17

Rotten:6

Average Rating: 6.5/10

Runtime: 1 hr 46 mins

Genre: Comedies

Synopsis: When 15-year-old science genius Mitch Taylor (Gabe Jarrett) is recruited by the pompous Professor Hathaway (William Atherton) to be part of a special research team, he has no idea he will be... When 15-year-old science genius Mitch Taylor (Gabe Jarrett) is recruited by the pompous Professor Hathaway (William Atherton) to be part of a special research team, he has no idea he will be working on a top secret military weapon. Enrolling at Pacific Tech College, he meets his fellow whiz kid classmates, including infamous senior Chris Knight (Val Kilmer), whose intelligence and irreverent behavior are legendary; they become roommates, despite their different approaches to life. When Hathaway threatens to expel Chris for bad behavior, the two brains join forces to finish the special laser project before it is too late, in the process unveiling secrets about the project that inspire them to plot an elaborate revenge. [More]

Starring: Val Kilmer, Gabe Jarret, Michelle Meyrink, William Atherton

Starring: Val Kilmer, Gabe Jarret, Michelle Meyrink, William Atherton

Director: Martha Coolidge

Director: Martha Coolidge
Screenwriter: Neal Israel, Pat Proft, Peter Torokvei
Producer: Brian Grazer
Composer: Thomas Newman

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Jun 11, 2002

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Real Genius

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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The humor is relentlessly cruel, smug, and disconnected from any sense of how human beings might behave in similar situations.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
05/30/07
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This disappointing teen comedy from director Martha Coolidge is another entry in the rash of teens-goofing-with-science films.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
05/30/07
TV Guide's Movie Guide
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

What lifts the production above the run-of-the-mill is swift direction by Martha Coolidge, who has a firm grasp over the manic material.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
05/30/07
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The movie gets stuck as a run-of-the-mill teen revenge comedy.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
05/30/07
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It does make you wonder if the drive of the US education system is ultimately to develop better weapons of mass-destruction, though Coolidge's movie is too hazily good-natured to capitalise on the tougher aspects of the material.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Geoff Andrew
Time Out

great fun and full of 1980s relics, from the now-antiquated computers to the box of Donkey Kong cereal to a finale set to Tears for Fears...

Full Review Source: Kalamazoo Gazette | comment Comment
10/13/05
James Sanford
Kalamazoo Gazette

No review available.

comment Comment
06/19/05
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

goofy and very funny

comment Comment
04/18/05
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

No review available.

comment Comment
11/19/04
Robin Clifford
Reeling Reviews

Young Kilmer in no-brainer comedy

comment Comment
10/19/04
Steve Crum
Kansas City Kansan

No review available.

comment Comment
08/10/04
Kevin Carr
Film Threat

Supreme guilty pleasure

comment Comment
12/18/03
Brian J. Arthurs
Beach Reporter (Southern California)

No review available.

comment Comment
09/05/03
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal

What the film needs, instead of these familiar teen-movie trappings, is a cleverness and eccentricity to match that of its characters. For the most part, these are qualities that it lacks.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
05/20/03
Janet Maslin
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

See it. If you have seen it, see it again. It's a moral imperative.

comment Comment
10/14/02
Widgett Walls
Needcoffee.com

No review available.

comment Comment
09/24/02
Rob Blackwelder
SPLICEDWire

A guilty pleasure....ooodles of fun

comment Comment
09/17/02
Clint Morris
Moviehole

Pure '80s genius.

comment Comment
08/07/02
Luke Y. Thompson
New Times

No review available.

comment Comment
08/05/02
Rob Vaux
Flipside Movie Emporium

Like Risky Business, this not only rose above the 1980s teen comedy genre, but stuck it to the Reagan administration as well.

comment Comment
07/26/02
Jeffrey Westhoff
Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)
 
 
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