Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews

Matylda Swan It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

Kamila Bell This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

gavin6942 Paul Stephens (Christopher Collet)'s high school science project has gotten a little out of hand. He just built an atomic bomb. Now he's got 11 hours to make sure it doesn't work.The plot was likely influenced by the case of John Aristotle Phillips, a Princeton University undergraduate, who came to prominence in 1977 as the "A-Bomb Kid" for designing a nuclear weapon in a term paper using publicly available books and articles.Roger Ebert gave the film four out of four stars and called it "a clever, funny and very skillful thriller ... that stays as close as possible to the everyday lives of convincing people, so that the movie's frightening aspects are convincing". He particularly took note of how "sophisticated" the film was about the relationship between Paul Stephens and John Matthewson, while praising Brickman's ability to "combines everyday personality conflicts with a funny, oddball style of seeing things, and wrap up the whole package into a tense and effective thriller. It's not often that one movie contains so many different kinds of pleasures." Although I am surprised that Ebert heaped such praise on this film, which seems to have been largely forgotten, I am glad that he did. The Cold War and nuclear war were common themes in the 1980s, whether the direct plot or only alluded to. And some films became huge (WarGames) and others have been forgotten. I suspect this one is largely forgotten because it lacks big name actors (with all due respect to John Lithgow). If it hasn't already been done, someone ought to get a special edition in the works...

tgreene_msp This movie probably belongs on a lot of lists, but this belongs in the category of being a comedy, the same way that baseball should be extended to eighteen innings to better compete with golf. One list that this movie would be on would be "If it weren't for another movie, this one wouldn't have gotten made". The movie that opened the door for this one is "WarGames" which this movie has one theme in common, "How close to Armageddon are we, really?". While I did have problems with some of the movie's minor points as to how the bomb came to be built, the choice by the editors to edit out some of the more dated comments that occurred after the science fair was a good move, especially in the post-9/11 world, given the Science Fair was held in New York City.

edwagreen Absurd film. This is exactly what you get when Hollywood tries to go scientific-in this case nuclear physics.A young lad, a prankster with a brain, together with his girlfriend steal plutonium from the lab. His mother has become friendly with scientist John Lithgow.With the nuclear material, our young lad has made a small bomb. The FBI and other federal agents are after our young hero. They point rifles to his chest.The best part of this ridiculous film was how the dynamic duo were able to pull off their caper.Then of course, we must have the deactivating of the bomb, and how that's done before the deadline and mom and the girlfriend rushing up to our hero at film's end. Let's go beyond this and pursue how this recalcitrant should have been tried for stealing this material and placing the northeast in such jeopardy.The film is a miserable one. It made me think of my miserable chemistry teacher and how she tortured me. The film tortured me as well.

yddsp@aol.com This film is entertaining enough, in fact it is quite exciting. However, in a real-life scenario, the end result would not and could not have had such a clichéd "Hollywood ending", so in that respect it sort of resembles a "fractured fairytale". The storyline is credible enough with a bit of imagination stretching, the acting is tolerable, only the irony is laid on a bit too thick. I found the attitude of the principal character to be much too cynical, unrealistic and extremely condescending, even for the likes of some precocious, science-savvy prodigy. Getting back to the entertainment value, the plot progresses expectedly only it thickens toward the direction of the surrealistic, though the basic concept is actually pretty frightening. However, the movie is watchable with its impressive cast; a young Cynthia Nixon, John Lithgow, Chris Collet et al. I have mixed feelings about this film, I did enjoy watching it, but when I began to rationalize it began to appear quite nonsensical. So, if you intend on watching it, simply keep your powers of logic and common sense subdued and it will remain an enjoyable experience.