HairBrained

Oh man, where do I start to express my disappointment with this horrid movie ? It's incredible to believe that Brendan Fraser can sink lower in his career, but this film proves that anything is possible. This is probably the worst acting in his filmography. Also the script is boring, lame, stupid and predictable. Directing is one of the worst I have seen... ever. The kid is annoying beyond believe. They make a desperate attempt to make him be cute and tender, but the results are lame. Large parts of the movie try to be funny, but they are filled with clichés and absurd, non funny scenes... The perfect cure for insomnia.

Review: This is one of those low budget comedies about a teenage school kid who is a genius. Because of his advanced mind, he enters the college mastermind competitions with the major goal of beating Harvard. With his new found friend, an 41 year old student played by Fraser, and his 3 team mates, they battle through the competition achieving more than expected. I personally didn't find this movie that funny or even slightly interesting. If you don't take the movie that seriously, then it's light hearted fun, but the storyline is quite weak and the acting wasn't anything spectacular. There are a couple of scenes which were quite amusing, but it's not a movie that I will be watching again in a hurry. Disappointing!

Round-Up: As I hadn't heard of this movie before, I wasn't expecting that much. I was shocked to see that Brendan Fraser was in this movie because it seemed more like a college teenage film, but after watching it, I do see the point of his casting. He has definitely had one of the weirdest careers to date, because he has made some really bad movies and then he will casted in a blockbuster. From the Mummy franchise and G.I. Joe, to silly movies like Furry Vegeance and Bedazzled, he really has had a versatile career. I did like him in Crash and Gimme Shelter so he does have his good moments, which are mostly when he is playing serious roles. In this movie he has gone into comedic mode, but personally I didn't find him that funny. 

I recommend this movie to people who are into there teenage movies about a college genius who enters mastermind competitions to try and beat Harvard. 3/10

This is not a real review, it should be understood more as a collection of impressions on the film.

From my point of view, a fairly underrated film that entertains and amuses a lot, even if with a fairly banal and predictable plot, the film is still well developed and full of twists and turns that entertain the viewer very well. So if you are looking for a quiet and fun film to spend some time peacefully, this film is in my opinion a fairly right choice as the film doesn't have too many pretensions except that of being light and fun, and let's say it achieves this very well. In conclusion, in my opinion the film is worth it.

Decent watch, probably won't watch again, and can't sincerely recommend.

I like Brendan Fraser well enough and he nailed it in this support role, but Alex Wolff pretty much carries the movie, playing off of everyone else wonderfully.

It is rare to have a collegiate coming of age story, but they managed to cover the idiosyncrasies of a young genius in a new world quite well.

What really breaks me from the movie is the slew of crimes being committed against Eli as he is 13-14 years old.

The other thing is that trivia isn't the most exciting thing, as exampled by the movie. They could have easily done an applied science competition that would have been a bit more compelling.

While I don't regret watching this subtle, slice of life story, there just isn't much to say about it: just very little payoff.

We loved HairBrained - it's got a real 80s teenage movie vibe meets college days with a hipster indie streak - it's silly, and cool, and just kooky enough to be off the beaten track without going AWOL.

The plot of the 13 yr old genius (Alex Wolff) gets to go to college and his adventures is one to simply kickback to and enjoy. Brendan Frasier and he make good foils for each other and the film has plenty of nice touches.

It subverts the sports / college genre nicely and all in all you could do a lot worse if you want a good sports comedy.

One of my favorite films of the year so far - honestly? A fun and original movie - and we don't get to say that often enough these days....