I.Q.
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Movie Reviews of I.Q.
Movie Review: Funny and delightful
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a lighthearted and funny movie, and though nothing profound, perhaps, is still a very enjoyable film to watch as several of the greatest scientific minds of the century try to find the right guy for their beloved Meg, Einstein's niece. Matthau is wonderful as Einstein, whether he's pondering the secrets of the universe with his physicist buddies or engaging in romantic intrigues to match-up his favorite niece. Einstein might seem like an unlikely matchmaker, but few people know Einstein himself had more romantic relationships than one would expect for such a cerebral man.
Matthau has Einstein's character just right, managing to look somewhat disheveled as well as dignified at the same time. In one scene, Einstein is shown strolling with his friends and discussing the idea of determinism or indeterminacy in the cosmos. Notable among them is Kurt Godel, who would even astound Einstein sometimes with his mathematical brilliance, and once even discovered a solution to Einstein's relativistic equations that he had missed.
Both Bottoms and Ryan also do a fine job in their roles as well. The whole movie is a cute, clever idea fleshed out with enough substance to make it worth watching. It might not be The African Queen, but it's a lot better than The Love Boat. It's a little reminiscent of the modern opera Aniara, which takes place on a spaceship, which is truly about love among the stars. Our characters are a little more earthbound, but are no less romantic for that.
One of the cleverer side plots is when Bottom's character, a local mechanic who turns out to have an I.Q. of over 180, but didn't know it, making him as smart as Einstein himself. In one scene, Bottoms takes Matthau for a ride on the back of his motorcycle, which, while not at relativistic speeds, he finds thrilling. Overall, an engaging and enjoyable movie based on a unique premise that I hadn't seen done before.
Movie Review: Aw-Shucks Sweet and Funny Stuff.
Summary: 4 Stars
Official Meg Ryan Movie Disclaimer: If you love Meg Ryan when she's playing the "quintessentially Meg Ryan" character -- slightly ditzy, girl next door, all eyes and smiles for miles -- you'll adore this film and must own it post haste!
That said -- this is a larky, improbable, at times almost too cute vehicle for her charms, and those of the (who knew?) equally daffily appealing Tim Robbins, who can play crazy, tender, and smart like nobody's business. Here he's a grease monkey full of heart, a little light in the cranium but fascinated by the gee-whiz, pre-lunar landing stuff of 1950's American pop pulp science. She's Einstein's brainy niece in the of Sandra Dee, all white gloves and sparkly eyes, Doris Day suits and brisk, collegiate sexiness. Walter Matthau's turn as Albert the Immortal is a bit heavy handed, but he's the zip and zing which makes this improbable romance "go" ... he and his band of fellow doddering professorial brainiacs, who relish rock and roll and fast cars, badminton and cardigans.
Brilliant Brit Stephen Fry brings heavy comic gravitas to his role as Catherine's fiancee, a plummy sounding gent who calls her munchkin and is so pre-occupied with his lab rats and the color of the paint for the new home he's planning to provide for his amore that he misses the point entirely: it's about love, stupid!
Not an Academy Award calibre movie, I.Q., but not a bad way to pass the better part of a morning or an afternoon either. Incurable romantics, this movie was made for people like us. Cynics, take a pass ... and pass the sweet peas!
Movie Review: Kinda silly but sweet
Summary: 4 Stars
My head wants to subtract a star but I'll go with my heart and give it four. You can look at the DVD cover and tell the whole story---no surprises here. But the cast is very good and carry the movie. Meg Ryan is always sparkling adorable. Walter Matthau was a better-than-expected Einstein, underplaying it charmingly. The "three stooges" were very cute and their innocent silliness added a lot to the charm of the film. I was disappointed in Tim Robbins, a wonderful actor I usually love, but I don't think it was his fault; I just think he was miscast. He carries blandness to such an extreme that I would have almost believed him more as the nerdy psychology professor. They had to find someone really really nerdy (Steven Fry) to make Robbins appear like Marlon Brando.
The story is simple and silly but I think what saves the movie and makes it so appealing to so many people is the straightforward, unapologetic attitude of the director. He seems to really believe in what he's doing and inspires a nice performance from everyone. As romantic comedies go, it's way down on my list of favorites---everything else Meg Ryan has done far eclipses this one (excuse the pun). But it's inoffensive and well-meaning, which is more than can be said about a lot of other movies.
Movie Review: Lovely movie, barebones DVD
Summary: 4 Stars
I've always quite loved this movie. All the main actors shine and create believable nutty characters. The plot, while given an Einstein twist, is pretty standard charming romantic comedy fare.The DVD solely features a widescreen Dolby 5.1 version of the film, and doesn't even bother including a theatrical trailer. It's not a cult hit, so it's not terribly unexpected that great love wasn't lavished upon the DVD production. My one complaint would be that the video transfer was evidently done from a used print. This is particularly evident during the title cards, where the primary colors used for the background show fairly clearly the various flecks of dirt or hair that you'd expect to see on a film print. This is not the end of the world, and I am overjoyed to have this movie on DVD. But the video transfer would have been fantastic (it really is sharp) without these occasional dirty print issues.
All in all, I'm glad to add this movie to my DVD collection, and I would happily recommend this movie to anyone else interested in romantic comedies.
Movie Review: SILLY, BUT CHARMING
Summary: 4 Stars
Apart from a quote I love ("I'd rather be an optimist and a fool, than a pessimist and always right") the movie is also a relatively intelligent feel-good romantic comedy. Matthau is hilarious as Einstein, almost looks like him too! Robbins is at his suave best, and Meg a prim intellectually inclined neice of Einstein. If you have any respect for the history of physics and the reputations of the people who formed non-Euclidean theory, leave it at the door. (One cannot but wonder if fictional physicists, instead of real characters could not have accomplished the same thing in terms of compelling characterizations?)
In any case, the movie is a neat little love story, and worth a cosy evening's rental.