Product Details

• Actors: Tim Robbins, Meg Ryan, Walter Matthau, Lou Jacobi, Gene Saks
• Directors: Fred Schepisi
• Writers: Andy Breckman, Michael Leeson
• Producers: Fred Schepisi, Carol Baum, Neil A. Machlis, Sandy Gallin, Scott Rudin
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC
• Language: English, German
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Paramount
• VHS Release Date: April 1, 1997
• Run Time: 100 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (64 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303464831
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #150,073 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

I.Q. has all the elements of a classic romantic comedy. Certainly Meg Ryan has demonstrated she has the stuff for funny love with films such as When Harry Met Sally... and Sleepless in Seattle, and director Fred Schepisi's Roxanne ranks among top contemporary romantic comedies. Even though Tim Robbins received acclaim for dramatic work in Jacob's Ladder and The Shawshank Redemption, his early comedic work shouldn't be forgotten (well, maybe Howard the Duck, but not the hilarious Sure Thing). And Walter Matthau? No explanation needed.

Combine I.Q.'s talent with its fresh story and it charms. Garage mechanic Ed Walters (Robbins) is captivated at first glimpse by pretty, perky Catherine (Ryan), a gifted academic who lives with her uncle, Albert Einstein (a brilliant Matthau). Catherine is engaged to pretentious James Moreland (the oh-so-appropriate English actor and writer Stephen Fry). Catherine's early 1950s world is all bookish and brainy, even though she has aspirations toward the romantic (Moreland's idea of a honeymoon is the Belgian Congo with Pygmies; she longs for Hawaii). Einstein and his professor pals, played by Lou Jacobi, Gene Saks, and Joseph Maher, conspire to match their beloved Catherine with the sincere and smart (though not intellectual) Ed.

This is a sweet--but not saccharine--story about "engineering" the course of true love and the ironic triumph of heart over head. The topnotch performances (which also include Tony Shalhoub and Frank Whaley as fellow mechanics) really draw audiences into this winning movie. --N.F. Mendoza

From The New Yorker

Half a great movie. For the first hour, Fred Schepisi's new comedy hits a high note of tolerant goofiness. Walter Matthau as Albert Einstein, Meg Ryan as the physicist's niece, Stephen Fry as her intended, Tim Robbins as her garage-monkey love interest: with a cast like that, it's not hard to keep the movie kicking along, and the blooming backdrop of nineteen-fifties Princeton adds to the sensation that these guys are living through an age of innocence and making the most of it. Schepisi fools around nicely with the contest between logic and love; Einstein and his cronies hatch a plan to bring Robbins and Ryan together, thus assisting an already benign universe. The jokes are never a blast; they feel subtle and syncopated, hitting you at quiet moments, staying away from the main rhythms of the plot-a wise move, because the plot (never strong to begin with) soon starts to crack. By the end, it's in total collapse, and the good mood dissolves. -Anthony Lane
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliant romantic comedy, November 18, 2003

By 

Patrick Thompson (Sydney, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: I.Q. (DVD)

Now this is how to do the genre!

This is brilliantly funny, poignant and tender, but never insipid (the director is Australia...so insipidness is definitely out) movie. Matthau is truly fantastic as Einstein, as are his three sidekicks (especially Godel! and the tree that likes to eat their stuff!) as they try to manuever the two leads together and remove the Lesser Professor, a.k.a the rat man, Chimp Pimp, etc from the picture: the stuffy english fiance of Meg Ryan's Character, played perfectly by Stephen Frey. Of course the Lesser Professor is trying to hang on to Meg Ryan's character and expose Tim Robbin's character as a fraud because of his new found friendhsip with Einstein and the secret paper they're working on so Tim Robbin's character can impress Meg Ryan's charater with 'his genius' because that is what she looks for in a man- a genetic hope of making genius children so she, lacking in her own confidence, can achieve through her children. MEg Ryan's character is Eistein's neice.

I can't understand how Matthau didn't get a best supporting actor nomination for this movie! He is so good, as is all the cast: they fit perfectly, especially the 'four boys'.

The story is fairly linear but well paced. It does deal with a lesser theme of self belief, being yourself, and sexual equality and that brilliant men can be have brilliant women as their equal, or betters. The main theme is not letting the brain rule the heart too much, and to be happy. And that some things-love- defy science!

I can't think of any movie like this one. Its unique, clever, witty and subtle at times (especially the humor: Einstein on a motorbike going wah-hoo...very cool!). So if you like your movies sophisticated, wholesome, honest, stylish and not contrived then you defintely want to see this one! The cinematography and 'fifty-ness' is fantastic!

Definitely 5 stars! More even...!

DVD is very plain: just the movie. No added features or even bio's for that matter. But with a movie this good, who needs them? The picture and sound quality are top notch.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wa Hoo, August 27, 2006

By 

C. Ivie "Prof Chuck" (Apple Valley, Ca USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: I.Q. (DVD)

Longer ago than I care to remember I had the great fortune to meet Einstein. I was an under grad in college when he made one of his unannounced visits to the campus. Walter Matthau captures the professor briliantly and his humor and wit come through in this film. Einstein's interest in motorcycles and his love of sailing are portrayed lovingly and the very human side of the great man is illustrated with fidelity and humor. It is always on my list of ten favorite films.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Delightful., May 18, 2008

By 

ADRIENNE MILLER (TENNESSEE) - See all my reviews

This review is from: I.Q. (DVD)

I.Q. is a sweet and charming romantic comedy, I am a sucker for these types of films, they all have the same formula but they are satisfying. Meg Ryan and Tim Robbins have wonderful chemistry, you root for them to end up together, and Walter Matthau is a hoot as "Albert Einstein." I can see why people like this movie, check it out sometime.