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Real Genius
Apr. 10th, 2007 10:22 pmFinding an 80s teen movie I haven't seen isn't as hard as you might think - but finding an 80s teen movie I haven't at least *heard* of is a lot more impressive. Dave managed it with Real Genius, which we just finished watching. It was unearthed last night during a cataloguing session of all our films (both bought and pulled off the net) and was added to a growing pile of things we plan to watch at some point.
It not only afforded me the opportunity to see a scarily young Val Kilmer being inordinately silly, but also to compare a Brian Grazer movie to existential German literature. While it is true that the majority of the film is made up of teenage science-related hi-jinks, there is a section towards the beginning that is definitely Kafka-esque. The (very) young and sensible protagonist tries to make sense of a bewildering environment in which an array of strange people behave in a bizarre manner and refuse to give him a straight answer - and then he fills someone's house with popcorn.
Whilst I don't actually remember that last bit ever happening in The Castle or The Trial, I thought the comparison managed to hold water at least for a brief moment...
Anyway, the film got off to a slightly rocky start, but gained entertainment value apace as it progressed. Good fun, overall.
It not only afforded me the opportunity to see a scarily young Val Kilmer being inordinately silly, but also to compare a Brian Grazer movie to existential German literature. While it is true that the majority of the film is made up of teenage science-related hi-jinks, there is a section towards the beginning that is definitely Kafka-esque. The (very) young and sensible protagonist tries to make sense of a bewildering environment in which an array of strange people behave in a bizarre manner and refuse to give him a straight answer - and then he fills someone's house with popcorn.
Whilst I don't actually remember that last bit ever happening in The Castle or The Trial, I thought the comparison managed to hold water at least for a brief moment...
Anyway, the film got off to a slightly rocky start, but gained entertainment value apace as it progressed. Good fun, overall.
