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Real Genius
Since Val Kilmer's passing, I'm pretty sure movie buffs are all over the world were re-watching Tombstone, so I decided to go a different route in my homage to Kilmer by taking another look at the first film I ever saw with Kilmer, 1985's Real Genius, an outrageous and overly complex comedy that combines elements of several different genres with varying results.
The story follows a 15 year old science prodigy who gets early acceptance into one of the most prestigious engineering colleges run by a Professor Jerry Hathaway who recruits Mitch to be part of a team he has working on a special laser that is to be part of a nuclear weapon, that Hathaway has been commissioned by the government for very nefarious purposes. Mitch immediately bumps heads with Chris Knight (Kilmer), the last genius recruited to the college who has learned not to take school and himself too seriously and tries to teach Mitch the same.
The very intricate screenplay by Neil Israel, Pat Proft, who wrote the previous year's Bachelor Party, and PJ Torokvei combines several different kinds of movies, but the primary canvas, a college hijinks comedy, looks original here because the student population for this school is all at genius level, bringing about several kinds of college hijinks we're not accustomed to seeing in most college comedies...it's not every film where we see students with the ability to freeze a staircase in their dorm into ice suitable for skiing that turns to gas in a few hours. Mitch's discovery of Lazlo's underground lair has not been seen in a lot of college comedies either.
There is a science fiction element to the story in that this project that Jerry, Chris, Mitch, and his crew are working on is part of a nuclear weapon that the government is apparently paying Jerry through the nose for, seems a little out of place with the rest of the story and kind of slows things down and takes focus away from the part of the story that really works...the meeting of the minds between Chris and Mitch where Chris tries to get Mitch to relax and Mitch tries to get Chris to take this project seriously, the combined efforts of which are used to combat Dr. Hathaway. Not to mention the Revenge of the Nerds finale, that will invoke cheers, even if it takes a little too long to get there.
Director Martha Coolidge (Valley Girl) manages to find a balance of discipline and fun in her direction. Val Kilmer commands the screen in one of his funniest performances as Chris Knight and William Atherton, an actor who has made a career out of playing smarmy characters, has one of his smarmiest here as Jerry Hathaway. Robert Prescott, who so funny in the previous year's Bachelor Party, is equally funny in a similar character named Kent. Coolidge even found a small role for her Valley Girl leading lady, Deborah Foreman. And that's Jonathan Gries playing Lazlo, who fans of The White Lotus might recognize as Greg/Gary. The story is a little busy, but Kilmer keeps the viewer invested. RIP, Val.
Since Val Kilmer's passing, I'm pretty sure movie buffs are all over the world were re-watching Tombstone, so I decided to go a different route in my homage to Kilmer by taking another look at the first film I ever saw with Kilmer, 1985's Real Genius, an outrageous and overly complex comedy that combines elements of several different genres with varying results.
The story follows a 15 year old science prodigy who gets early acceptance into one of the most prestigious engineering colleges run by a Professor Jerry Hathaway who recruits Mitch to be part of a team he has working on a special laser that is to be part of a nuclear weapon, that Hathaway has been commissioned by the government for very nefarious purposes. Mitch immediately bumps heads with Chris Knight (Kilmer), the last genius recruited to the college who has learned not to take school and himself too seriously and tries to teach Mitch the same.
The very intricate screenplay by Neil Israel, Pat Proft, who wrote the previous year's Bachelor Party, and PJ Torokvei combines several different kinds of movies, but the primary canvas, a college hijinks comedy, looks original here because the student population for this school is all at genius level, bringing about several kinds of college hijinks we're not accustomed to seeing in most college comedies...it's not every film where we see students with the ability to freeze a staircase in their dorm into ice suitable for skiing that turns to gas in a few hours. Mitch's discovery of Lazlo's underground lair has not been seen in a lot of college comedies either.
There is a science fiction element to the story in that this project that Jerry, Chris, Mitch, and his crew are working on is part of a nuclear weapon that the government is apparently paying Jerry through the nose for, seems a little out of place with the rest of the story and kind of slows things down and takes focus away from the part of the story that really works...the meeting of the minds between Chris and Mitch where Chris tries to get Mitch to relax and Mitch tries to get Chris to take this project seriously, the combined efforts of which are used to combat Dr. Hathaway. Not to mention the Revenge of the Nerds finale, that will invoke cheers, even if it takes a little too long to get there.
Director Martha Coolidge (Valley Girl) manages to find a balance of discipline and fun in her direction. Val Kilmer commands the screen in one of his funniest performances as Chris Knight and William Atherton, an actor who has made a career out of playing smarmy characters, has one of his smarmiest here as Jerry Hathaway. Robert Prescott, who so funny in the previous year's Bachelor Party, is equally funny in a similar character named Kent. Coolidge even found a small role for her Valley Girl leading lady, Deborah Foreman. And that's Jonathan Gries playing Lazlo, who fans of The White Lotus might recognize as Greg/Gary. The story is a little busy, but Kilmer keeps the viewer invested. RIP, Val.