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I.Q. (film)

March 03, 2023

I.Q. is a 1994 American romantic comedy film directed by Fred Schepisi and starring Tim Robbins, Meg Ryan, and Walter Matthau. The original music score was composed by Jerry Goldsmith. The film, set in the mid 1950s, centers on a mechanic and a Princeton doctoral candidate who fall in love, thanks to the candidate's uncle, Albert Einstein.

I.Q.
Theatrical release poster
Directed byFred Schepisi
Screenplay byAndy Breckman
Michael J. Leeson
Story byAndy Breckman
Produced byFred Schepisi
Carol Baum
Neil A. Machlis (co-producer)
Starring
CinematographyIan Baker
Edited byJill Bilcock
Music byJerry Goldsmith
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
December 25, 1994
Running time
96 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguagesEnglish
German
Budget$25 million
Box office$47 million[1]

Plot

An easy-going garage mechanic, Ed Walters (Tim Robbins), meets Catherine Boyd (Meg Ryan), a Princeton University mathematics doctoral candidate, as she comes into the garage, accompanied by her critical English fiancé, acerbic experimental psychology professor James Moreland (Stephen Fry). There is an immediate "electric" connection which Ed recognizes as he falls in love with her at first sight, but she does not reciprocate.

Finding a watch she left at the garage, Ed travels to her address and finds himself face to face with Albert Einstein (Walter Matthau), who is Catherine's uncle.[2] Albert and his mischievous friends, fellow scientists Nathan Liebknecht (Joseph Maher), Kurt Gödel (Lou Jacobi), and Boris Podolsky (Gene Saks), accept Ed as a friend and see him as someone who would be better suited for Catherine. The four bring their communal vehicle to Ed's garage to have it modified as a convertible and chat with Ed about how to attract Catherine's interest. A joking suggestion by Ed to "borrow their brains" inspires them to try to help Ed look and sound like a scientist in order to garner Catherine's attention. Catherine sees through the "intellectual Ed" ruse but falls for Ed anyway.

Cast

Dramatic alterations

For dramatic reasons, I.Q. fictionalizes the lives of certain real people. Albert Einstein did not have a niece by the name of Catherine Boyd. Kurt Gödel was famously shy and reclusive,[3] unlike his fictional counterpart in this film. The movie gives the impression that Einstein and his friends are 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 film's set period.

The characters in the film listen to Little Richard's "Tutti-Fruitti," which was released in November 1955, while Albert Einstein died in April of that year.

While some viewers believe Robbins' character can be seen impersonating Don Vito Corleone, portrayed by Marlon Brando, from The Godfather, which was released in 1972, he was actually impersonating the character of Johnny Strabler (also played by Marlon Brando), from The Wild One, a 1953 American film noir, whose persona became a cultural icon of the 1950s.

Production

The director, Fred Schepisi, later said that, while he liked the film, it was not what it could have been:

The problem was there were two other producers, there was a studio and there was Tim Robbins and they were all contributing, and Tim Robbins was being difficult because he said in the '90s nobody would like a character who has a woman fall in love with him because of a lie. That's the whole premise of the film. And it's all right for him to know that and believe it, but he should spend the whole time trying to say, "Hey, I'm lying to you," and be constantly frustrated. Because of that attitude, he pulled the film this way, he pulled it that way while we were writing and it just felt messy. And nobody ever understood the value of those four scientists, and I like the cast that I had, but the other three scientists apart from Walter Matthau were originally going to be Peter Ustinov, Barry Humphries and John Cleese. I wanted them all the way through, but nobody understood how strong they would be. Nobody understood that with a garage and the scientists and this other guy, if you could just stay within that world, if you kept your two lovers together all the time under pressure and you do lots of silly things - there were a couple of wonderfully silly things when they were trying to prove his theory and they kept blowing things up - it had that whimsy about it that would have kept the lovers together and under tension. If they want subplots, they up the stakes and all this formulaic crap - and that's the problem.[4]

Release and reception

I.Q. opened in theaters on Christmas Day. It grossed $3,131,201 during its opening weekend, ranking eighth at the US box office.[5] By the time the film closed, it had grossed $26,381,221 in the United States and Canada.[6] It grossed $47 million worldwide.[1]

The film received mixed reviews from critics, as I.Q. holds a 43% rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 28 reviews.[7]

In Roger Ebert's 3 1/2 star review of the film he gave glowing praise of Walter Matthau's performance: "Matthau as Einstein is a stroke of casting genius. He looks uncannily like the great mathematician. Whether he acts like him I am not in a position to say, but he certainly doesn't act like himself: He has left all his Matthauisms behind, and created this performance from scratch, and it's one of the year's genuine comic gems. He deserves an Oscar nomination."[8]

Year-end lists

References

  1. ^ a b "Planet Hollywood". Screen International. August 30, 1996. pp. 14–15.
  2. ^ Caryn James (January 8, 1995). "FILM VIEW; At the Cineplex It's Dumb, Dumber, Dumbest". New York Times. Retrieved 2013-08-08.
  3. ^ Davis, Martin (May 4, 2005). "Gödel's universe". Nature. 435 (7038): 19–20. Bibcode:2005Natur.435...19D. doi:10.1038/435019a.
  4. ^ "Interview with Fred Schepisi", Signis, 22 December 1998 14 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine access 20 November 2012
  5. ^ "Dumb' Laughs = a Smart Payoff : Box office: Jim Carrey vehicle pulls a 'Gump,' taking in $16.2 million on an otherwise slow film-going weekend". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-12-31.
  6. ^ "I.Q. (1994) - Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
  7. ^ I.Q. (1994), retrieved 2022-03-01
  8. ^ https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/iq-1994
  9. ^ Elliott, David (December 25, 1994). "On the big screen, color it a satisfying time". The San Diego Union-Tribune (1, 2 ed.). p. E=8.
  10. ^ P. Means, Sean (January 1, 1995). "'Pulp and Circumstance' After the Rise of Quentin Tarantino, Hollywood Would Never Be the Same". The Salt Lake Tribune (Final ed.). p. E1.

External links

March 03, 2023
film, 1994, american, romantic, comedy, film, directed, fred, schepisi, starring, robbins, ryan, walter, matthau, original, music, score, composed, jerry, goldsmith, film, 1950s, centers, mechanic, princeton, doctoral, candidate, fall, love, thanks, candidate,. I Q is a 1994 American romantic comedy film directed by Fred Schepisi and starring Tim Robbins Meg Ryan and Walter Matthau The original music score was composed by Jerry Goldsmith The film set in the mid 1950s centers on a mechanic and a Princeton doctoral candidate who fall in love thanks to the candidate s uncle Albert Einstein I Q Theatrical release posterDirected byFred SchepisiScreenplay byAndy BreckmanMichael J LeesonStory byAndy BreckmanProduced byFred SchepisiCarol BaumNeil A Machlis co producer StarringMeg Ryan Tim Robbins Walter Matthau Charles DurningCinematographyIan BakerEdited byJill BilcockMusic byJerry GoldsmithDistributed byParamount PicturesRelease dateDecember 25 1994Running time96 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguagesEnglishGermanBudget 25 millionBox office 47 million 1 Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Dramatic alterations 4 Production 5 Release and reception 5 1 Year end lists 6 References 7 External linksPlot EditAn easy going garage mechanic Ed Walters Tim Robbins meets Catherine Boyd Meg Ryan a Princeton University mathematics doctoral candidate as she comes into the garage accompanied by her critical English fiance acerbic experimental psychology professor James Moreland Stephen Fry There is an immediate electric connection which Ed recognizes as he falls in love with her at first sight but she does not reciprocate Finding a watch she left at the garage Ed travels to her address and finds himself face to face with Albert Einstein Walter Matthau who is Catherine s uncle 2 Albert and his mischievous friends fellow scientists Nathan Liebknecht Joseph Maher Kurt Godel Lou Jacobi and Boris Podolsky Gene Saks accept Ed as a friend and see him as someone who would be better suited for Catherine The four bring their communal vehicle to Ed s garage to have it modified as a convertible and chat with Ed about how to attract Catherine s interest A joking suggestion by Ed to borrow their brains inspires them to try to help Ed look and sound like a scientist in order to garner Catherine s attention Catherine sees through the intellectual Ed ruse but falls for Ed anyway Cast EditTim Robbins as Ed Walters Meg Ryan as Catherine Boyd Walter Matthau as Albert Einstein Lou Jacobi as Kurt Godel Gene Saks as Boris Podolsky Joseph Maher as Nathan Liebknecht Stephen Fry as James Moreland Daniel von Bargen as Secret Service Agent Tony Shalhoub as Bob Rosetti Frank Whaley as Frank Charles Durning as Louis Bamberger Keene Curtis as Dwight D Eisenhower Alice Playten as Gretchen Greg Germann as Bill Riley Times reporterDramatic alterations EditFor dramatic reasons I Q fictionalizes the lives of certain real people Albert Einstein did not have a niece by the name of Catherine Boyd Kurt Godel was famously shy and reclusive 3 unlike his fictional counterpart in this film The movie gives the impression that Einstein and his friends are 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 film s set period The characters in the film listen to Little Richard s Tutti Fruitti which was released in November 1955 while Albert Einstein died in April of that year While some viewers believe Robbins character can be seen impersonating Don Vito Corleone portrayed by Marlon Brando from The Godfather which was released in 1972 he was actually impersonating the character of Johnny Strabler also played by Marlon Brando from The Wild One a 1953 American film noir whose persona became a cultural icon of the 1950s Production EditThe director Fred Schepisi later said that while he liked the film it was not what it could have been The problem was there were two other producers there was a studio and there was Tim Robbins and they were all contributing and Tim Robbins was being difficult because he said in the 90s nobody would like a character who has a woman fall in love with him because of a lie That s the whole premise of the film And it s all right for him to know that and believe it but he should spend the whole time trying to say Hey I m lying to you and be constantly frustrated Because of that attitude he pulled the film this way he pulled it that way while we were writing and it just felt messy And nobody ever understood the value of those four scientists and I like the cast that I had but the other three scientists apart from Walter Matthau were originally going to be Peter Ustinov Barry Humphries and John Cleese I wanted them all the way through but nobody understood how strong they would be Nobody understood that with a garage and the scientists and this other guy if you could just stay within that world if you kept your two lovers together all the time under pressure and you do lots of silly things there were a couple of wonderfully silly things when they were trying to prove his theory and they kept blowing things up it had that whimsy about it that would have kept the lovers together and under tension If they want subplots they up the stakes and all this formulaic crap and that s the problem 4 Release and reception EditI Q opened in theaters on Christmas Day It grossed 3 131 201 during its opening weekend ranking eighth at the US box office 5 By the time the film closed it had grossed 26 381 221 in the United States and Canada 6 It grossed 47 million worldwide 1 The film received mixed reviews from critics as I Q holds a 43 rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 28 reviews 7 In Roger Ebert s 3 1 2 star review of the film he gave glowing praise of Walter Matthau s performance Matthau as Einstein is a stroke of casting genius He looks uncannily like the great mathematician Whether he acts like him I am not in a position to say but he certainly doesn t act like himself He has left all his Matthauisms behind and created this performance from scratch and it s one of the year s genuine comic gems He deserves an Oscar nomination 8 Year end lists Edit 9th David Elliott The San Diego Union Tribune 9 The second 10 not ranked Sean P Means The Salt Lake Tribune 10 References Edit a b Planet Hollywood Screen International August 30 1996 pp 14 15 Caryn James January 8 1995 FILM VIEW At the Cineplex It s Dumb Dumber Dumbest New York Times Retrieved 2013 08 08 Davis Martin May 4 2005 Godel s universe Nature 435 7038 19 20 Bibcode 2005Natur 435 19D doi 10 1038 435019a Interview with Fred Schepisi Signis 22 December 1998 Archived 14 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine access 20 November 2012 Dumb Laughs a Smart Payoff Box office Jim Carrey vehicle pulls a Gump taking in 16 2 million on an otherwise slow film going weekend The Los Angeles Times Retrieved 2010 12 31 I Q 1994 Box Office Mojo Box Office Mojo Retrieved 2010 05 24 I Q 1994 retrieved 2022 03 01 https www rogerebert com reviews iq 1994 Elliott David December 25 1994 On the big screen color it a satisfying time The San Diego Union Tribune 1 2 ed p E 8 P Means Sean January 1 1995 Pulp and Circumstance After the Rise of Quentin Tarantino Hollywood Would Never Be the Same The Salt Lake Tribune Final ed p E1 External links EditI Q at IMDb I Q at AllMovie I Q at Box Office Mojo I Q at Rotten Tomatoes I Q film script Dialogue Transcript Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title I Q film amp oldid 1142556337, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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