Customer Reviews

I.Q. [VHS]

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I.Q. is a pleasant romantic comedy with a twist - the uncle of the young woman the story is about is none other than the great genius Albert Einstein (played brilliantly by the late great Walter Matthau).
Set in the late fifties, the story begins when Catherine Boyd (Meg Ryan) and her fiancée James (Stephen Fry) experience car trouble while riding around in his MG, and seek assistance at a garage. The garage mechanic, Ed Walters (Tim Robbins), sees Catherine and falls hopelessly in love with her. Of course, Ed's aspirations seem to be hopeless. Ed is a very good car mechanic but has no formal college education. But in the spirit of all romantic comedies, Ed feels that the relationship has a chance if he can only meet her and spend some time with her.
When she accidentally leaves her pocket watch at the gas station, he seizes the opportunity to try and see her again by personally returning the watch. Imagine his surprise, when he knocks on the door and Albert Einstein answers.

Surprisingly, Ed and Professor Einstein hit it off immediately. Ed is no scientific genius, but he understands human nature and the importance of having fun in life, two things that Einstein feels are lacking in his niece's life, which has been largely based on trying to emulate her uncle. Einstein is getting on in years and wants to make sure that she is happy and will be looked after properly. When Ed expresses the depth of his feeling, Einstein vows to help set things up. Einstein and his physicist friends -who also dote on Catherine-, decide to try and set Ed and Catherine up as a favor to both of them. It turns out that the car mechanic pretends to be an amateur physicist to impress Meg Ryan. Ed -allegedly- develops a process to use cold fusion to power a spacecraft, which during the cold war and the space-race was extremely important. However, this process didn't exist, Catherine finds out that Ed is a fraud and Ed realizes that he must level with her if they are ever to have a true relationship. The clever and romantic ways that these issues are resolved by Einstein and his cronies and by Ed and Catherine themselves make up the remainder of the story.

The highlight of I.Q. has to be the performance of Walter Matthau as Einstein. He has created an original character that seems totally different from the kind of roles he always played with Jack Lemmon.
Ed and Catherine are engaging as the young lovers and give us good on-screen chemistry, like they were meant for each other.
While this film is by nature light and predictable, you will find it quite enjoyable entertainment.

One of my favorite lines from the movie is in a dialogue between Albert Einstein and Tim Robbins' character Ed. They are discussing how to get Catherine to go out with Ed since Catherine will only go out with intellectual types.

Einstein: "The problem is she would never go out with a guy like you."
Ed: "Well that's easy. Lend me your brain for a while."
Einstein: "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
Ed: "Now what are the odds of that happening?"

I have to confess.....I love this movie. I think I've watched it over 300 times, and I'll probably watch it another 300.

Say what you want to about Meg Ryan being too cute, about the plot being predictable, whatever. I think it's just....jivin'. It's a neat love story, about the actions of boy meets girl, fate and love, and Albert Einstien's convertible. Throw in a comet and a few wacky physicists, well, it's just pure fun. I wish to heck I could find the score somewhere; the blend of do-wap and Mozart is as much fun as the movie itself.

I'm prejudiced because Tim Robbins is my favorite actor, but all the acting in this goofy, off the wall film is top-notch. Though it's not one of the late Walter Matthau's most famous roles, I personally think it's one of his best, and I can't think of anyone better to play the eccentric Albert Einstien.

One of the most beautiful things about this film is the accuracy of the set and costumes. Not just Meg Ryan's picture-perfect 50's dresses, but the buildings and vehicles, and especially the heavily wood-panelled bungalows favored by the rich during the late 50's; they're so time-perfect you can almost smell the Lemon Pledge.

Incedentally...look for one of the funniest performances in one of the experiments by Meg Ryan's movie fiance, "Excremental Psychologist" James Moreland. I'm not sure who the actor is, but in the background of his lab is a student driven psychotic by a "time depravation experiment", and his physical humor and antics are about a thousand times better than anything from SNL in the past decade.

By the by, this makes a perfect date movie, and is mild enough for kids...but still fun for adults. It's just all around terrific, and a great buy.

I remember being completely charmed by the movie when I rented it on VHS years ago. What would you do if you fell for Einstein's granddaughter? Meg Ryan played her part very well. as did Matthau as Einstein. Unlike most of the readers I actually know who Kurt Goedel (one of Einstein's friends) is- he was a mathemetician and philospher- arguably the most important philospher of the last century- and that certainly added to my enjoyment.

Walter Matthau, as Einstein, easily steals the show as he tries to persuade his niece to ditch the brilliant, boring, scientific nerd she's engaged to and follow her heart, which is tugging in the direction of the local auto mechanic, who has taken one look at her over the hood of her disabled car and fallen ridiculously and madly in love.
Even Meg Ryan has trouble with the costuming of the 1950's era: cinched waists, twin sets, white gloves (!!), etc., and I got the feeling she was just going thru the motions of playing Meg Ryan, as only she can.
Cute, but very lightweight.

I caught this flick on cable TV one day and was left feeling I watched a good-hearted romantic comedy. The movie wasn't the funniest or raunchiest and it wasn't a tear-jerker...just the way a romantic comedy should be. Robbins (the actor) was great in his "working man" role. The Einstein twist was marvelous and his (Einstein's) fellow genius' were also great.

Strongly recommended for someone looking to watch a romantic comedy free of zany characters or crazy scenes.

An attractively, welldone movie. Meg Ryan's character seemed to be made just for her and she played it superbly. And Walter Matthau was wonderful as Einstein. They couldn't have picked a better guy. I was just cuted out by the characters he and his friends (Lou Jacobi, Gene Saks, and Joseph Maher) played. The were the funniest, most humorous match-makers I have ever seen in a movie. In short, I think that the cast of characters was nothing short of magnificent.

Catherine (Meg Ryan) is the niece of the well meaning but bumbling Einstein (Walter Matthau). She was born with the mind of a scientist who always follows her head, and is just learning what it means to follow her heart. And Ed (Tim Robbins) is just the man to teach her how (with a little help from Einstein and his friends).

This is a lighthearted and funny movie, and though nothing profound, perhaps, is still a very enjoyable film to watch as several of the greatest scientific minds of the century try to find the right guy for their beloved Meg, Einstein's niece. Matthau is wonderful as Einstein, whether he's pondering the secrets of the universe with his physicist buddies or engaging in romantic intrigues to match-up his favorite niece. Einstein might seem like an unlikely matchmaker, but few people know Einstein himself had more romantic relationships than one would expect for such a cerebral man.

Matthau has Einstein's character just right, managing to look somewhat disheveled as well as dignified at the same time. In one scene, Einstein is shown strolling with his friends and discussing the idea of determinism or indeterminacy in the cosmos. Notable among them is Kurt Godel, who would even astound Einstein sometimes with his mathematical brilliance, and once even discovered a solution to Einstein's relativistic equations that he had missed.

Both Bottoms and Ryan also do a fine job in their roles as well. The whole movie is a cute, clever idea fleshed out with enough substance to make it worth watching. It might not be The African Queen, but it's a lot better than The Love Boat. It's a little reminiscent of the modern opera Aniara, which takes place on a spaceship, which is truly about love among the stars. Our characters are a little more earthbound, but are no less romantic for that.

One of the cleverer side plots is when Bottom's character, a local mechanic who turns out to have an I.Q. of over 180, but didn't know it, making him as smart as Einstein himself. In one scene, Bottoms takes Matthau for a ride on the back of his motorcycle, which, while not at relativistic speeds, he finds thrilling. Overall, an engaging and enjoyable movie based on a unique premise that I hadn't seen done before.