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Real Genius

  PG HD Closed Captioning

Martha Coolidge

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Plot Summary

When a group of crazy college geniuses put their heads together, almost anything can happen. Hold on for a freewheeling, uproarious look at just how much mischief a bunch of high-IQers can concoct. Chris (Val Kilmer) is the top brain who just wants to party, Mitch (Gabe Jarret) is the 16-year-old whiz kid, and Lazlo (Jonathan Gries), America's number one brain, literally lives in a world of his own ... Chris' closet. Supposedly hard at work on a lab project, they still find time to turn the dorm into an ice-skating rink, dismantle a nerd's car and reassemble it in his room, and throw a beach party in the auditorium complete with a lagoon and bikini-clad beauties. When the geniuses discover that their unscrupulous mentor Professor Hathaway (William Atherton) has had them working on a secret weapon for the military, they plot an elaborate revenge. Their plan culminates in an incredible scheme that outsmarts the military and convinces the professor that it doesn't pay to fool with a Real Genius!!

Rotten Tomatoes Movie Reviews

TOMATOMETER

74%
  • Reviews Counted: 23
  • Fresh: 17
  • Rotten: 6
  • Average Rating: 6.5/10

Top Critics' Reviews

Rotten: 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. – Janet Maslin, New York Times, Jul 16, 2008

Fresh: 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. – Variety, Jul 7, 2010

Fresh: Real Genius contains many pleasures, but one of the best is its conviction that the American campus contains life as we know it. – Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times, Jul 7, 2010

Fresh: 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. – Geoff Andrew, Time Out, Aug 17, 2007

Read More About This Movie On Rotten Tomatoes

Customer Reviews

A Classic Comedy worthy of reviewing

One of those rare jems, like Ghostbusters, that seems to implant comedic lines of verse into your every day vocabulary. My pastor put "no matter how many times he quotes 'Real Genius'" into our wedding ceremony. So I guess it must be important. If you have never seen this movie, it's a "moral imperative" that you do!

Real Genius

The absolute best 80's movie not involving John Candy, ever!! The wittiness and arrogance of Val Kilmer, along with the timeless music of that decade, makes this movie a must have for any age. It almost makes you want to NOT study!!

Classic

Required viewing for all geeks.

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View In iTunes
  • $12.99
  • Genre: Comedy
  • Released: 1985

Customer Ratings