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Real Genius

Real Genius

Comedy · Romance · Science Fiction · 1985

When teenage geniuses Mitch Taylor and Chris Knight, working on an advanced laser project, learn that the military wants to use it as a weapon, they decide to thwart the plan.

Movie details

Real Genius

“When he gets mad, he doesn't get even… he gets creative.”

1985 Comedy · Romance · Science Fiction 1h 46m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

6.9 / 10

41.9K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

77 %

Tomatometer

Metacritic

71 / 100

Metascore

TMDB

6.7 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

When teenage geniuses Mitch Taylor and Chris Knight, working on an advanced laser project, learn that the military wants to use it as a weapon, they decide to thwart the plan.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Real Genius?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Martha Coolidge

Written by

Neal Israel · Pat Proft · PJ Torokvei

Val Kilmer

Val Kilmer

Chris Knight

Gabriel Jarret

Gabriel Jarret

Mitch Taylor

Michelle Meyrink

Michelle Meyrink

Jordan

William Atherton

William Atherton

Professor Hathaway

Robert Prescott

Robert Prescott

Kent

Louis Giambalvo

Louis Giambalvo

Major Carnagle

Jon Gries

Jon Gries

Lazlo Hollyfeld

Court is in session

Put Real Genius on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.