Themes: Inventors, Whistleblowers, Political Corruption
Main Cast: John Lithgow, Christopher Collet, Cynthia Nixon, Jill Eikenberry, John Mahoney
Release Year: 1986
Country: US
Run Time: 112 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
Everyone knows that teenagers are smarter than adults, and if given a chance the kids could save the world--if they don't blow it to bits first. The Manhattan Project tells of how 16-year-old Christopher Collet tries to alert his community to the dangers of nuclear energy. John Lithgow, a doctor in a pharmaceutical research plant wherein covert plutonium experiments are taking place, is the boy friend of Cowlet's mom Jill Eikenberry. While Lithgow is romantically occupied, Cowlet and his girl Cynthia Nixon steal the plutonium and construct their own atomic bomb. They do this, of course, as a warning to foolhardy grownups--none more foolhardy than the folks who put up good money to make this film. Manhattan Project was directed by longtime Woody Allen collaborator Marshall Brickman, whose expert sense of comic timing obscures the thickheaded "message" of this picture. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
An uneasy blend of precocious teen comedy, cautionary tale, and message movie, Marshall Brickman's directorial debut highlights some of the best and worst aspects of mainstream moviemaking in the '80s. Manhattan Project starts out a warm, winning human comedy on the aftermath of divorce, with mom Jill Eikenberry and new boyfriend John Lithgow exhibiting loads of awkward charm, and son Christopher Collet striking the right balance between perturbed and just plain annoying. When the ripped-from-the-headlines plot kicks in, however, the film forgets that it's supposed to be about real people and not trumped-up atomic agitprop -- it becomes a left-wing Red Dawn. (It doesn't help that the technology featured in the film would have seemed out of date in 1978.) It's clear that former comedy writer Brickman is out of his league when the film's would-be pulse-pounding finale is shot and edited so as to have all the tension and buildup of a Midwestern state fair. Obviously, Brickman and company intended for a WarGames-style fusion of suburban sitcom and Cold War thriller, but where that film was buoyed by a pair of animated teen performers -- Matthew Broderick and Ally Sheedy -- Manhattan Project has to make do with the capable-but-underused Cynthia Nixon and the sedate, opaque Collet. Best to shut this one off at the midway point. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
Sully Boyar - Night Guard; Paul Austin - General; Dan Butler - [Medatomics Lab]; Timothy Carhart - Relief Guard; Al Cerullo - Helicopter Pilot [Nuclear Emergency Search Team]; Ken Chapin - Controler Nuclear Urgency; Richard Council - Government; J.D. Cullum - Eccles; Curt Dempster - Scientist; Heather Rose Dominic - Flirting Kid; John Doumanian - Cabbie; Gregg Edelman - Science Teacher; Charlie Fields - Price [Science Fair]; Katherine Hiler - Emma; Manny Jacobs - Moore; Bruce Jarchow - Examiner Nuclear Urgency; Richard Jenkins - Controler Medatomic Lab; Warren Keith - Computer [Nuclear Emergency Search Team]; Robert Sean Leonard - Max; Stephen Markle - Examiner Nuclear Urgency; Peter McRobbie - Electronics; Fred Melamed - Assay Technician; Edward D. Murphy - FBI; Geoffrey Nauffts - Craig; Harlan Cary Poe - Local FBI; David Quinn - Tennis; Robert Schenkkan - Civil Servant University; Ned Schmidtke - Jenny's Dad; Bruce Smolanoff - Child; Adrian Sparks - Scientist; Tom Tarpey - Injection Doctor; Abe Unger - Roland; Jimmie Ray Weeks - [Medatomics Lab]; Steve Zettler - [Medatomics Lab]; Frank Ferrara - [Medatomics Lab]; Bran Ferren - Lab Assistant; Joan Harris - TV Reporter Barbara Collins; Trevor Bolling - Child Halley Project; Steve Borton - Local FBI; Sarah Burke - Jenny's Mom; Richard Cardona - Child Laser Project; Allen De Cheser - Jenny's Brother [Ithaca]; Kerry Donovan - Himself; Eric Hsiao - Salto; Joan Kendall - Cab Driver; Warren Manzi - Day Attendant; Alec Massey - FBI; Dee Ann McDavid - FBI; Fred G. Smith - Conroy's Lieutenant; Michael Telesco - Receptionnist Medatomic Lab; Tery Cummins - Terry; Richard Caselnova - SWATS [Medatomics Lab]
Credit
Robert Guerra - Art Director, Shay Cunliffe - Costume Designer, Abigail Murray - Costume Designer, Ron Bozman - First Assistant Director, Marshall Brickman - Director, Nina Feinberg - Editor, Philippe Sarde - Composer (Music Score), Richard Dean - Makeup, Philip Rosenberg - Production Designer, Billy Williams - Cinematographer, Jennifer Ogden - Production Manager, Marshall Brickman - Producer, Jennifer Ogden - Producer, Nina Ramsey - Set Designer, Phil Smith - Set Designer, Connie Brink - Special Effects, Bran Ferren - Special Effects, Les Lazarowitz - Sound/Sound Designer, Frank Ferrara - Stunts, Thomas Baum - Screenwriter, Marshall Brickman - Screenwriter, Marshall Brickman - Book Author
