THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 30, 1994 TAG: 9412300080
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E11 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BRENT A. BOWLES, TEENOLOGY MOVIE CRITIC
LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
WITH ALBERT EINSTEIN playing Cupid, how could you go wrong?
In the holiday release ``IQ,'' it's up to Ernie and his super-smart cohorts to ignite a few sparks between his physicist niece and a pea-brained auto mechanic. A story like this would be hard to screw up, but director Fred Schepisi has failed to inject enough laughs into the script, and with mostly lackluster performances, ``IQ'' barely manages to stay afloat.
He's probably the finest actor of the decade, so what's Tim Robbins doing in this movie? Despite the lack of meat in the part of Ed, the mechanic made to look like the next Einstein, it seems to be enough for Robbins, whose wunderkind expression is always amusing. After his Oscar-caliber performance earlier this fall in ``The Shawshank Redemption,'' this film is sort of a vacation. At least he's having fun.
In a perfect bout of casting, Mr. e(EQ)mc2 is played by Walter Matthau. On the road to comeback since ``Dennis the Menace'' in 1993, Matthau looks just plain bored. Desperately clinging to his Belgian accent, he doesn't try to instill much energy in Einstein, and while that might be true to the man, it doesn't help the movie much.
And, oh, Meg Ryan. Poor Meg Ryan. Since ``When Harry Met Sally'' she just can't seem to shake those dippy heroine parts. Thankfully, ``The Doors'' and ``When a Man Loves a Woman'' pulled her briefly from the depths of dweeby comedies. But in ``IQ,'' she returns to the role of vulnerable chick who can't seem to get her life together and is overwhelmed by a magical romance. Unless Oliver Stone makes a Doors sequence, ``Wahoo,'' the choice phrase in ``IQ,'' may be on her tombstone.
Aside from Robbins' performance, the only other redeeming quality is the film's unpretentious nature. ``IQ'' doesn't pretend to be anything other than what it is: a cute, warm comedy about an unexpected romance. There is a lovely music score by Jerry Goldsmith, whose unpretentiousness as a composer makes him the perfect match with director Schepisi.
Unfortunately, the laughs are too scattered to let us have much fun. Schepisi, director of ``Mr. Baseball,'' at times directs to the beat of a screwball comedy, confusing the pacing and acting styles. The opening credits suggest a quirky little film, but the unsteady camera and steady performances suggest a low-budget cheese film.
At times, this is a cute film, and when you do laugh, it's a belly shaker. Despite it's identity crisis, try to enjoy it. MEMO: Princess Anne grad Brent Bowles attends JMU.
``IQ'' is rated PG.
ILLUSTRATION: DEMMIE TODD, Paramount photo
Tim Robbins, front, stars as auto mechanic Ed Walters and Walter
Matthau plays Albert Einstein in ``IQ.''
by CNB