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.
Back to trending 
Creator
Comedy · Romance · Science Fiction · 1985
With the help of student assistant Boris and stolen university equipment, Dr. Harry Wolper plans to clone his dead wife. But then he meets Meli, an egg donor for his experiment, and they fall in love. Faced with choosing between his deceased wife and Meli, Dr. Wolper sees his situation in a new light when Boris' own new love, Barbara, falls into a coma. Meanwhile, another professor tries shutting down the cloning project.
Movie details
Creator
“It's potentially dangerous, probably illegal and definitely crazy.”
1985 Comedy · Romance · Science Fiction 1h 47m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.1 / 10
Community rating
With the help of student assistant Boris and stolen university equipment, Dr. Harry Wolper plans to clone his dead wife. But then he meets Meli, an egg donor for his experiment, and they fall in love. Faced with choosing between his deceased wife and Meli, Dr. Wolper sees his situation in a new light when Boris' own new love, Barbara, falls into a coma. Meanwhile, another professor tries shutting down the cloning project.
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 Creator?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe 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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Womb
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A woman's consuming love forces her to bear the clone of her dead beloved. From his infancy to manhood, she faces the unavoidable complexities of her controversial decision.
French Girl
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I Want You Back
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Maintenance Required
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The Right Kind of Wrong
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A stubborn idealist spies a bride on her way to her wedding and immediately falls in love with her.
Zoe
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Ivan Passer
Written by
Jeremy Leven
Peter O'Toole
Dr. Harry Wolper
Mariel Hemingway
Meli
Vincent Spano
Boris Lafkin
Virginia Madsen
Barbara Spencer
David Ogden Stiers
Dr. Sid Kullenbeck
John Dehner
Paul
Karen Kopins
Lucy Wolper
Court is in session
Put Creator on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
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.