Genio per amore

A genial romantic comedy, "I.Q" is a flirtatious piece of fluff in which an auto mechanic woos the educated daughter of ol' E=MC2 himself, Albert Einstein. No guffaw inducer, but very pleasant fare given a considerable boost by its cast, most notably Matthau who is very good indeed as Mr. Einstein.

One of those films with a great central idea and a fantastic cast that somehow just doesn't work. Why? Don't know. Possibly the script? Possibly the lack of chemistry? I've watched it a few times- each time expecting to "get it" this time. Not terrible- but disappointingly mediocre.

I saw "I.Q." again today, and now realize how good a movie it is. In fact, I boosted my rating. Since my first viewing, I have seen a couple of biographical movies about Albert Einstein, and that gave me a framework for better appreciating some of the humor. I own the DVD and, while it has no extras, it is a very nice presentation, and the sound is Dolby 5.1. There was a scene with birds twittering in the surround speakers, thoroughly confusing my cat, Bullet.

Set in the 1950s, when Eisenhower was president, and both the US and Russia were in a race of sorts to explore space, Tim Robbins plays a mechanic who likes to read astronomy and science for fun. Meg Ryan plays a mathematician who isn't quite sure of herself, and Matthau plays Albert Einstein, her uncle. In a round-about way, Einstein and his fellow Physicists play matchmaker, and try to get Ryan and Robbins together. This is simply a wonderful romantic comedy with no swearing, no sex, and very little innuendo.

The love story here is cute and Tim Robbins has some nice moments, but the reason to watch the movie is Walter Matthau as Albert Einstien. (Meg Ryan has a typical Meg-Ryan-nice-girl performance. What that means, exactly, is up to the reader to decide.) Matthau makes the physicist humble, scheming, fun, and generally endearing. Plus, he and his peers have most of the great lines (e.g. "Don't let your brain interfere with your heart".)

Sure, I'm a big Meg fan, but this one is high on my list. She's as adorable as ever, Tim Robbins pulls of another great performance, and Walter Matthau is absolutely perfect as Einstein. The movie is thoroughly funny and even manages to be reasonably intelligent!