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Isn’t it funny how you end up watching a certain movie? Working from home the other day, I put Infinity Wars on, and then Endgame in the background. I looked up Robert Downey Jr online out of curiosity and was reminded that he was in Weird Science, which I suddenly had to watch again.
Being a child of the 80s, Weird Science is one of those movies that holds a special place in my heart. I was a horny teenager at the time and a movie about making a woman with a computer was just want I dreamed of.
Weird Science stars Anthony Michael Hall, Ilan Mitchell-Smith, Kelly LeBrock, Suzanne Snyder, Judie Aronson, Robert Downey Jr, Robert Rusley, Vernon Wells, Britt Leach, Michael Barryman, Ivor Barry, and the late, great Bill Paxton.
John Hughes directs and writes, alongside Al Feldstein and William M Gaines. I knew I knew the name Bill Gaines, he used to write and draw for Mad Magazine. I never put that together ’til now.
The Story
Two high-school nerds use a computer program to literally create the perfect woman, who promptly turns their lives upside-down. I remember the days of dial-up internet, hearing the screech of the modem, waiting 3 minutes just to see a picture of side boob, a nipple if I was lucky.
Gary (Hall) and Wyatt (Mitchel-Smith) are losers. They aren’t popular, they aren’t cool, and they definitely don’t have girlfriends. With Wyatt’s parents away for the weekend, they decide to build an A.I. They hack their way into a supercomputer, which is something all 80s movies could do, and start feeding it information.
As the supercomputer takes the information in, it starts to learn more and more and things get weird. The boys have hooked up a small doll and, with bras on their heads, they see the doll come to life. This all made perfect sense in the 1980s.
They create Lisa (LeBrock), a stunningly gorgeous British girl who could be the answer to all their (wet) dreams. Over the course of the movie, she teaches them how to be cool, stand up for themselves, and how to be good boyfriends.
There’s no point in breaking the story anymore, you either know it or you don’t. If you don’t, and you watch it from the viewpoint of being a teenage boy in the 80s, you’re in for a treat. I’m guessing most of you are around the same age as me, so I’m guessing you know it.
The Cast
The cast in Weird Science is great, I mean, it’s almost the perfect cast. Gary and Wyatt are me at that age. He’s awkward, he thinks he’s cool and he couldn’t chat up a girl to save his life.
Watching this again, I found the comic timing of Michael Hall to be brilliant. He is really funny in this. His delivery and pauses are great. I put this down to a good script and good direction, but I will come back to that.
This is one of the first roles I remember Paxton in and again, he’s brilliant. He plays Wyatt’s older brother, Chet, who is a typical older brother. He beats up on his little brother, exploits him, and just treats him like crap. Chet’s laugh is great.
You have the great Vernon Wells turn up in a brilliant bit of casting. Near the end of the movie, Lisa tries to help the boys by boosting their confidence. During a party at Wyatt’s, Wells and what is basically the rest of the cast of Mad Max turn up and wreck the place.
Gary and Wyatt stand up for themselves and the raiders leave. It’s so funny when Berryman gets embarrassed and says:
Can we keep this… between us? I’d hate to lose my teaching job…
Again, perfect casting and great acting from Berryman.
I have to talk about Downey Jr. He was 20 when the Weird Science came out and boy does he look it. I’m so used to him as Tony Stark, seeing him so fresh-faced is just weird. He’s really good in this. Him, and Rusler are the bullies are pick on Gary and Wyatt. Both of them are bullies that we have all known. They are cooler than us, they are more popular than us and they always get the girls.
Speaking of the girls, Ian (Downey Jr) and Max are going out with Deb (Snyder) and Hilly (Aronson). I had quite the crush on Aronson. She was, and still is, very cute.
Kelly Le Brock was perfect as Lisa. If you were going to create a woman on your computer, Le Brock would have been the best template you could make.
Hughes
John Hughes created some amazing movies. He wrote, and directed, with a real understanding of his subjects. You think of things like Ferris, 16 Candles, The Breakfast Club, they are great movies because you don’t just care about the characters, you identify with them.
You wanted to be Ferris; that cool kid, able to handle any situation, funny and well-liked. As I said, I was more like Gary and Wyatt than Ferris.
Hughes’ direction is always on point, simple but effective. His sense of comic timing and dialogue is really good. Weird Science is a fun movie, but at the same time, it’s very clever and has depth.
It deals with teenage angst. It deals with being unpopular. It deals with things like masturbation and sex. It’s not afraid to tackle these things. Back in the day, it was simply that boys liked girls, that was it. There were enough complications, like how to talk to the opposite sex, how to deal with feelings of horniness, and how to deal with being unliked by your peers. Weird Science wades into all of these with a smile.
I also could not believe some of the jokes they get away with. At one point, in a shopping mall, Lisa is in a lingerie shop, holding a pair of very skimpy lace knickers, and says to the elderly sales assistant:
‘If you were a 15-year-old boy, would this turn you on?’
Overall
Weird Science is the perfect 80s movie. It’s silly, it’s deeper than it should be, and it’s very well made. It holds up today, partly because it feels like the kind of movie that would simply never get made by today’s Hollywood. It’s the perfect antidote to modern filmmaking.
There is a stupidly hot chick, horny teenage boys, irreverent jokes, and everyone is just having fun. I’m so glad I watched Weird Science again, it’s top entertainment.
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