Real Genius (Martha Coolidge, 1985)

When a group of genius university students learn their laser experiments are to be used for a  new military satellite weapon, they have to put their minds together to prevent their work from falling into the wrong hands.

I do not think I will be reviewing many comedies in future.

They tend not to work on me in isolation.

This is an exception.

It is rare to see a major studio movie that challenges the military-industrial complex.

 

To think this came out in the 80s makes it even more singular.

The teens in this movie show no interest in the application of the tech they are working on.

But when they figure out they show no compunction about sabotaging the weapon.

The movie even makes jokes about corruption in military contracts - the film’s villain has been charging the cost of his new home to the project’s budget.

Finishing the weapon is about saving his skin more than anything else.

The film opens with such a different tone: We get a demonstration of the weapon and a debate about the legal and ethical issues involved.

 

One of the committee members pulls out.

And as soon as he leaves the meeting, the chair orders this member’s assassination.

It is not even played for laughs.

The government subplot folds around the teen 20-something hijinks like a burrito, and that set up makes for some more concrete tension in the third act. 

It also adds a layer of suspense to rebel genius Chris’s (Val Kilmer) combative dynamic with antagonist Professor Jerry Hathaway (William Atherton). 

Once we are introduced to teen wunderkind Mitch Taylor (Gabriel Jarret), the film assumes the format familiar to a lot of frat comedies:

Our nerdy hero is introduced to a wiser, wilder mentor in Chris, who tries to teach his charge on the importance of having fun.

Their idealism about their work - and sheer joy in learning - put them on a collision course with Jerry.

I had heard about Real Genius for years. Watching it now made me think about the current lack of mainstream studio comedies.

We do not make comedies like this any more.

I felt this watching Night Shift as well - older comedies seemed to take their dramatic components more seriously (think of the gangster massacre that opens Some Like it Hot). 

Nowadays, so few comedies are made (at least on a mainstream budget level), that films which combine multiple genres are even rarer. The last one I can think of was Game Night. And that was over six years ago.

While the cast are solid, Val Kilmer is the standout.

It is easy to see why he was pegged for movie stardom - and why he struggled in straight leading roles.

He is so singular and anarchic, a benevolent spin on the energy that he would bring to later, more iconic roles. Kilmer can come off a little broad and external, but that works here - Chris’ easy cheer belies a more melancholic, cynical understanding of the field he is working in.

Kilmer’s performance sums up the movie’s merits - and is the vehicle through which it delivers its more subversive intentions.

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