Real Genius

Mitch Taylor, a fifteen-year-old whose gift for laser research earns him a place at a college for highly gifted students, arrives on campus younger than his classmates and unsure of his new surroundings. He is paired in his dormitory with Chris Knight, a brilliant and free-spirited senior who once worked as intensely as Mitch does now and who shows him that life on campus involves more than study. Their laser project advances quickly, but the professor supervising it takes the work for himself and offers it to the military as a weapon, prompting Mitch, Chris and their friends to act.

Martha Coolidge directed the film, her fourth feature, following Valley Girl and Joy of Sex and preceding Rambling Rose. Val Kilmer plays Chris, with Gabriel Jarret as Mitch, Michelle Meyrink as Jordan, William Atherton as Professor Hathaway and Robert Prescott as Kent. Pat Proft, Neal Israel and PJ Torokvei wrote the screenplay, and Brian Grazer produced.

The film was released in August 1985 and runs 106 minutes. Made on a budget of 8 million dollars, it took about 13 million dollars worldwide, a modest return. On IMDb and on TMDB it holds moderate audience scores, on TMDB 6.7 out of 10 from over five hundred votes, matching a critics' rating of 6.7 from thirty-five reviews.