Under the lens takes a deep look at films by focusing in on one or two particular areas of the picture that helped to define it for better or for worse.
IQ is a 1994 Romantic Comedy, directed by Fred Schepisi and stars Tim Robbins, Meg Ryan, and Walter Matthau. The story is about a mechanic who romances the mathematician niece of physicist Albert Einstein, with a little help from him and his friends.
Under The Lens: Hyper-Stylized World and Walter Matthau
Hyper-Stylized World: IQ is a fascinating motion picture, at once its a romantic comedy, a fish out of water comedy and also historical fiction. Unlike most other rom-coms of the 90s this picture takes place in a hyper-stylized world of the 1950s. This world is a whimsical and unrealistic world, which seems a mix of 90s and 50s combined together (Meg Ryan sports a 90s haircut with 50s clothing for example). The scenes are saturated in color and the picture almost feels at times like a stage play, with few characters existing outside of the main cast. The entire picture is frenched in a feeling of dreamy fantasy, of science fiction, main street America and unbridled optimism.
IQ never tried to make you feel like you are in the real world, in fact it does its best to pull you out of it and into its addictive landscape of love and friendship. Its a story that begs the question “What if”
Walter Matthau: Film icon Walter Matthau stars as a fictional version of Albert Einstein, who after meeting the auto mechanic Ed Walters tries to fix Ed up with his niece Catharine. Its a charming story and we get to see Matthau bounce off three other character actors playing his friends and fellow academics.
For his part Matthau turns in an award worth performance of Albert Einstein, that could of descended into parody, however he plays him with a sort of quiet mischief. His performance is laced with humor, but with a subtle sincerity and a hint of sadness, we see him take Ed Walters in and almost treat him as a son, and there is a hint in the picture about the tragedy of Albert Einstein’s real life son Eduard.
Matthau’s performance is touching and hilarious as we see him tell Ed that he always dreamed of traveling the universe at the speed of light on a motorcycle, his character of Albert fits in perfectly with the pictures hyper-stylized world of ice cream parlors, gas stations and universities.
Highlights
Albert Einstein and his three friends have wonderful interactions and anchor the films humor
There is a frequently used shot that have Albert Einstein and his friends talk about science while filming them walking only from the knees down. Its an interesting framing that ads to every scene they are in.
Stage play aspect of the sets ads to the intimacy of the character interactions.
Quotable Quote
Albert Einstein: God does not play dice with the universe, but I will.
Something to think about
Have you ever fallen in love with someone who you viewed as “Outside your reach” what did you do about it?
Conclusion
IQ is a fascinating motion picture, starring three of the most bankable stars of the 90s in one of the most popular genres. Its at once formulaic, yet also takes the basic rom-com story and transports it to a land of endless optimism where everything turns out alright. The 90s was a time of optimism in film, and we saw lots of rom-coms that sold us the idea that everything would turn out ok in the end.
I truly miss the 90s era of rom-coms and the happy go lucky world they existed in, in the end IQ is not a perfect motion picture. It has some structural flaws and a few story beats could of been better, however its whimsical world and the dynamic cast anchors it and allows the small flaws to fade away.
IQ will not raise your IQ from watching it, but it seeks to tell us that sometimes we need to stop thinking so much and let our heart do the talking.
