Weird Science *** (1985, Anthony Michael Hall, Ilan Mitchell-Smith, Kelly LeBrock, Bill Paxton, Robert Downey Jr) – Classic Movie Review 5072

‘It’s all in the name of science. Weird Science.’ Two (now sadly eclipsed) Eighties Brat Pack actors, Anthony Michael Hall and Ilan Mitchell-Smith, are the engaging stars of writer-director John Hughes’s wacky 1985 teen comedy about high school nerds Gary Wallace and Wyatt Donnelly, who use their computer to conjure up the girl of their dreams.

The artificially created perfect woman Lisa turns out to be played by beautiful Kelly LeBrock, Gene Wilder’s fantasy Woman in Red (1984). LeBrock is very sexy, and a lot of fun, but there is a slight question mark over her acting here.

Although Hughes’s screenplay is lively with sharp and funny dialogue, it needs one more rewrite to cut out some of the feebler jokes. Still it ends brightly with a cheeky homage to the wild party finale of Risky Business (1983).

Bill Paxton, as Wyatt’s older brother Chet, and Robert Downey Jr are a lot of fun, too, and their careers took off.

Also in the cast are Suzanne Snyder, Robert Rusler, Judie Aronson, Vernon Wells, Britt Leach, Barbara Lang, Michael Berryman, Ivor Barry and Anne Bernadette Coyle.

Bill Paxton, dear departed, who died on 25 February 2017, aged 61.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 5072

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