Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

I.Q.

 
Movies:

I.Q.

  • Director: Fred Schepisi
  • AMG Rating: starstarstar
  • Genre: Romance
  • Movie Type: Romantic Comedy
  • Themes: Matchmakers, Opposites Attract, Otherwise Engaged
  • Main Cast: Tim Robbins, Meg Ryan, Walter Matthau, Lou Jacobi, Gene Saks
  • Release Year: 1994
  • Country: US
  • Run Time: 95 minutes
  • MPAA Rating: PG

Plot

Legendary scientist Albert Einstein (played here by Walter Matthau) takes a break from theoretical physics to try to set up his intellectual niece with a handsome auto mechanic in this romantic comedy. The movie's central conceit is that Einstein's brilliance extends to matters of the heart, allowing him to immediately sense that Ed Walters (Tim Robbins), a bright, lower-class mechanic obsessed with Popular Science Magazine, would be perfect for his niece Catherine (Meg Ryan). Unfortunately, Catherine is already engaged to a stiff Princeton man. In order to defeat Catherine's resistance, Uncle Albert decides to help Ed pretend to be a revolutionary scientist, a charade that inevitably leads to much farcical confusion. Einstein's scientist pals are portrayed as a Greek chorus of Catskills-style kibitzers, featuring such notable perfomers as Lou Jacobi as Kurt Godel and director Gene Saks as Boris Podolsky. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

Review

The syrup flows freely in this too cute but somewhat amusing romantic comedy from director Fred Schepisi, who strives for but fails to attain the charm and energy of his previous winner Roxanne (1987). The lovebird leads are instantly forgettable: Meg Ryan gives one of her trademark "smart but clueless" performances, while Tim Robbins re-creates his low-wattage character from Bull Durham (1988) sans the cocky swagger. It may not be entirely on the actors' shoulders, as their characters (and thus their performances) lack any edge, brittleness, or originality that might have rendered them believable and worthy of sympathy and identification. What works quite well here, however, is the screenplay's quirky and lovable concept that casts Albert Einstein (ably portrayed by Walter Matthau) as a mensch accompanied by a gaggle of kvetching yes-men straight out of Neil Simon or Woody Allen, for whom physics is a distant second to playing Cupid. The genuinely cute idea here is that Einstein is so smart, his true genius is to realize that love and chemistry are more important than compatibility or brains. For those able to suspend disbelief long enough to buy that a high intelligence quotient equals wisdom and good-heartedness, I.Q. will prove diverting. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Cast

Joseph Maher - Nathan Liebknecht; Stephen Fry - James Moreland; Tony Shalhoub - Bob Rosetti; Frank Whaley - Frank; Scotty Bloch - Dinner Guest; Jeff Brooks - Reporter; Keene Curtis - Eisenhower; Alice Drummond - Dinner guest; Charles Durning - Louis Bamberger; Sol Frieder - Professor Loewenstein; Helen Hanft - Rose; Tim Jerome - Academic; Alice Playten - Gretchen; Rex Robbins - Suit; Lewis J. Stadlen - Moderator; Daniel Von Bargen - Secret service agent; Richard Woods - Suit; Danny Zorn - Dennis; Leo Leyden - Dinner Guest; John McDonough - Academic

Credit

W. Steven Graham - Art Director, David Rubin - Casting, Neil Machlis - Co-producer, Ruth Myers - Costume Designer, John Wildermuth - First Assistant Director, Fred Schepisi - Director, Jill Bilcock - Editor, Sandy Gallin - Executive Producer, Scott Rudin - Executive Producer, Jerry Goldsmith - Composer (Music Score), Danny Michael - Musical Direction/Supervision, Michael Laudati - Makeup, Stuart Wurtzel - Production Designer, Ian Baker - Cinematographer, Carol Baum - Producer, Fred Schepisi - Producer, Gretchen Rau - Set Designer, Andy Breckman - Screenwriter, Michael Leeson - Screenwriter

Similar Movies

Roxanne; The Truth About Cats & Dogs; Return to Me; Young Einstein
Search unanswered questions...
Enter a question here...
Search: All sources Community Q&A Reference topics
WordNet: I.Q.
Top
Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: a measure of a person's intelligence as indicated by an intelligence test; the ratio of a person's mental age to their chronological age (multiplied by 100)
  Synonyms: intelligence quotient, IQ


Wikipedia: I.Q. (film)
Top
I.Q.

Greg Parker
Directed by Fred Schepisi
Produced by Carol Baum
Written by Andy Breckman
Starring Tim Robbins
Meg Ryan
Walter Matthau
Music by Jerry Goldsmith
Cinematography Ian Baker
Editing by Jill Bilcock
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date(s) December 25, 1994
Running time 100 min.
Country U.S.A.
Language English

I.Q. is a 1994 romantic comedy film directed by Fred Schepisi, starring Tim Robbins, Meg Ryan, and Walter Matthau. The original music score was composed by Jerry Goldsmith.

Contents

Plot details

Tim Robbins is an amiable garage mechanic named Ed Walters who finds Meg Ryan's character, Catherine Boyd, a beautiful and intelligent Princeton University mathematics doctoral candidate, as she comes into the garage (accompanied by her stiff and fussy English fiancé, an experimental psychology professor, played by Stephen Fry). There is an immediate connection, but she refuses to acknowledge it. Finding a watch she left at the garage, Ed travels to her address and finds himself face to face with Albert Einstein (played by Walter Matthau), who is Catherine's uncle. Albert, portrayed as a fun loving genius along with his mischievous friends Nathan, Kurt, and Boris, sees in Ed someone who would be better suited for Catherine, and the four of them attempt to help Ed look and sound more like a scientist (i.e., a wunderkind in physics), while at the same time trying to convince Catherine that life is not all about the mind but about the heart as well. This is intended to be Einstein's most enduring legacy to his niece as he realizes that he'll not be available for her for very much longer. Catherine eventually sees through the ruse but ends up falling for Ed anyway. The very last image in the movie is of a smiling Albert Einstein using a small telescope to spy on the two young moonstruck lovers as they take delight in each other's company.

Dramatic alterations

For dramatic reasons, I.Q.. fictionalizes several real people. Albert Einstein did not have a niece by the name of Catherine Boyd. Kurt Gödel was famously shy and introverted, unlike his fictional counterpart in this film. The movie gives the impression that Einstein and his friends were all around the same age, when in fact, they were between 17 and 30 years younger than Einstein. The real life Louis Bamberger died in 1944, before the movie's time period.

Cast and roles include

External links


 
 
Learn More
i.q. (abbreviation)
Bottom Feeders (1997 Comedy Film)
What is meant by I.Q.? (kids)

What does IQ stands for as in IQ Test? Read answer...
What does IQ stand for as in IQ test? Read answer...
What is my IQ? Read answer...

Help us answer these
What does iq stand for in toyota iq?
Is IQ better than IQ?
What is pamela's iq?

Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:

 

Copyrights:

Movies. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Movie Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "I.Q. (film)" Read more