Weird ScienceHow do you define "the perfect girl"? Or perhaps a better question is should you try to define the concept of a perfect girl from an adolescent checklist? For awkward and unpopular high school teens, Gary (Anthony Michael Hall) and Wyatt (Ilan Mitchell-Smith), obsessed with their elusive image of the perfect fantasy girl, they envision their ideal mate as being brains and beauty, cultivated from girly magazines and endowed with intelligence hacked from NORAD. Lisa (Kelle LeBrock) emerges as a virtual "bride" for the would-be Frankensteins; but more than gratify their puerile desires, she teaches them crucial lessons in maturity.
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Weird Science falls squarely in the realm of the 1980s--literally and metaphorically, made in 1985--and one has but to gauge the new wave fashion sense by the outfits that look more at home on the cover of an A-Ha album. The film has become a cult classic, in part due to its silliness, cheesiness, and even its adorably dated fashion sense. And yet, what makes any cult classic worth its salt is that it's entertaining, which Weird Science is. Part of the many films written and directed by Eighties icon, John Hughes, Weird Science moves with a rapid pace throughout, taking periodic moments for Gary and/or Wyatt to reflect on how they are maturing through their experiences with Lisa; and it has to, as Gary and Wyatt's misadventures take place over a single weekend. After introducing the duo as a pair of hapless nerds, frequently bullied by the likes of Ian (Robert Downey, Jr.) and Max (Robert Rusler), Gary stays over at Wyatt's house while his parents are out of town, their only chaperone being Wyatt's older brother, Chet (Bill Paxton), an obnoxious military blowhard who extorts from and bullies Wyatt at every chance. But on that Friday night, while watching Frankenstein, Gary suggests they put Wyatt's new computer to use to create a virtual girl, someone from whom they can get a better understanding of women, and apply that knowledge in their own lives. In this way, Gary and Wyatt are a bit like high school versions of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, applying a staggering degree of computer acumen to work miracles. And playing God is ultimately what the two boys end up doing, through a combination of the "mystical internet" and even perhaps some straight up black magic, bringing forth into this world a synthetic creation, a gorgeous woman: Lisa.
Lisa ostensibly gets her name from an old flame of Gary's, but really her name comes from the "Mona Lisa", the enduring creation by the master artist, Leonardo da Vinci, another lifelike fabrication that draws the eye. Lisa is seductive--directly inviting the overwhelmed boys to shower with her vis-à-vis a fantasy Gary alluded to earlier--but they discover they are unprepared to address their sexuality yet. Lisa was gifted not only with a fine figure, but intelligence cultivated from the likes of Albert Einstein; there is always the sense that all of the events in Weird Science play out exactly as Lisa intends. The truth is that there is never any real sense that Lisa's objective is to sleep with the boys, but to liberate their spirits, and really help them understand what it means to be men. Throughout the course of Weird Science, Lisa's exposure has a visible effect on Gary and Wyatt, who at first appear as pubescent boys, but eventually transform into mature young men, not by any trick of the camera, but by virtue of their behaviors and growth over one weekend. Lisa forces them to confront their deepest fears, even working events to make sure their inner courage is displayed for all at the big party, when "biker mutants" (really) invade to cause havoc, and Gary and Wyatt are forced to defend the girls to whom they've become attracted--Deb (Suzanne Snyder) and Hilly (Judie Aronson). These young men are honest and open with their new loves, and are a far cry from the goofball boys a couple of nights back, wearing bras on their heads, hooking up a car battery to a Barbie doll, and adjusting the chest size on a wireframe prototype. The real reason they have matured is that instead of pursuing a woman as an object to fulfill their fantasies, they enjoy the company of Deb and Hilly as people, and are likewise desirable to them by treating them far better than Ian and Max. Weird Science is a comedy about maturing and facing one's fears, even if it means you have to have a supermodel drag you kicking and screaming to do it.
Recommended for: Fans of a funny, sharp, and wholly Eighties comedy about understanding what is truly desirable in a relationship. Also, that computer hacking montage is pure absurdity from today's perspective--and maybe it was in 1985, for that matter--but one that's definitely a fun trip.
Lisa ostensibly gets her name from an old flame of Gary's, but really her name comes from the "Mona Lisa", the enduring creation by the master artist, Leonardo da Vinci, another lifelike fabrication that draws the eye. Lisa is seductive--directly inviting the overwhelmed boys to shower with her vis-à-vis a fantasy Gary alluded to earlier--but they discover they are unprepared to address their sexuality yet. Lisa was gifted not only with a fine figure, but intelligence cultivated from the likes of Albert Einstein; there is always the sense that all of the events in Weird Science play out exactly as Lisa intends. The truth is that there is never any real sense that Lisa's objective is to sleep with the boys, but to liberate their spirits, and really help them understand what it means to be men. Throughout the course of Weird Science, Lisa's exposure has a visible effect on Gary and Wyatt, who at first appear as pubescent boys, but eventually transform into mature young men, not by any trick of the camera, but by virtue of their behaviors and growth over one weekend. Lisa forces them to confront their deepest fears, even working events to make sure their inner courage is displayed for all at the big party, when "biker mutants" (really) invade to cause havoc, and Gary and Wyatt are forced to defend the girls to whom they've become attracted--Deb (Suzanne Snyder) and Hilly (Judie Aronson). These young men are honest and open with their new loves, and are a far cry from the goofball boys a couple of nights back, wearing bras on their heads, hooking up a car battery to a Barbie doll, and adjusting the chest size on a wireframe prototype. The real reason they have matured is that instead of pursuing a woman as an object to fulfill their fantasies, they enjoy the company of Deb and Hilly as people, and are likewise desirable to them by treating them far better than Ian and Max. Weird Science is a comedy about maturing and facing one's fears, even if it means you have to have a supermodel drag you kicking and screaming to do it.
Recommended for: Fans of a funny, sharp, and wholly Eighties comedy about understanding what is truly desirable in a relationship. Also, that computer hacking montage is pure absurdity from today's perspective--and maybe it was in 1985, for that matter--but one that's definitely a fun trip.