The genius kid steals plutonium and builds a Bomb. Ok. Probably not realistic, but most movies have a willing suspension of disbelief.
The bigger problem is the kid stealing the plutonium. From one visit to this facility, he knows how to defeat the guard's security, how to operate all these devices, what color the goop he is stealing so nobody will notice, how to operate the first laser he's seen to cutting through a wall with it.
It's just too much. There's genius, but genius doesn't mean knowledge of everything. Even The Doctor on Doctor Who wouldn't come across this brazen.
Also hurting it is the script demands you hold the kid as a hero. His mother freaked out about how dare these Feds TRY TO FIND THIS KID THAT STOLE PLUTONIUM AND BUILT A NUCLEAR BOMB AND TOOK IT TO NEW YORK CITY.
Also, the guy and girl take a bus from New York to their home city, and the Feds don't anticipate this? And worse, the girl drives Paul close enough to the facility to drop off Paul, and they don't intercept then/her before she calls half of Ithaca?
Lol, writing this, I think I like it better than it deserves, probably because my age when it came out.
The acting is very good, and the chemistry really works. "I'm sorry for being a perfect ass" "nobody is perfect" is great. The dialog is mostly a winner.
But the movie just veers way too far between a weird sort of half serious teen comedy and a VERY serious drama. The Wargames parallels are quite obvious, but Broderick's smart but screw up kid is light years from what this kid does, regardless of the apparent stakes.
Oh, on a different note, I bought the freaking DVD, and I just don't think endless "you shouldn't download movies illegally" messages are terribly useful on discs... you know, only seen by people that bought the freaking DVD... just saying'.
The bigger problem is the kid stealing the plutonium. From one visit to this facility, he knows how to defeat the guard's security, how to operate all these devices, what color the goop he is stealing so nobody will notice, how to operate the first laser he's seen to cutting through a wall with it.
It's just too much. There's genius, but genius doesn't mean knowledge of everything. Even The Doctor on Doctor Who wouldn't come across this brazen.
Also hurting it is the script demands you hold the kid as a hero. His mother freaked out about how dare these Feds TRY TO FIND THIS KID THAT STOLE PLUTONIUM AND BUILT A NUCLEAR BOMB AND TOOK IT TO NEW YORK CITY.
Also, the guy and girl take a bus from New York to their home city, and the Feds don't anticipate this? And worse, the girl drives Paul close enough to the facility to drop off Paul, and they don't intercept then/her before she calls half of Ithaca?
Lol, writing this, I think I like it better than it deserves, probably because my age when it came out.
The acting is very good, and the chemistry really works. "I'm sorry for being a perfect ass" "nobody is perfect" is great. The dialog is mostly a winner.
But the movie just veers way too far between a weird sort of half serious teen comedy and a VERY serious drama. The Wargames parallels are quite obvious, but Broderick's smart but screw up kid is light years from what this kid does, regardless of the apparent stakes.
Oh, on a different note, I bought the freaking DVD, and I just don't think endless "you shouldn't download movies illegally" messages are terribly useful on discs... you know, only seen by people that bought the freaking DVD... just saying'.