Weird Science (1985)

Directed by John Hughes. Starring Anthony Michael Hall, Ilan Mitchell-Smith, Kelly LeBrock, Bill Paxton, Suzanne Snyder, Judie Aronson, Robert Downey Jr., Robert Rusler, Britt Leach, Barbara Lang, Vernon Wells. [PG-13]

A pair of pantywaist dweebs (Hall, Mitchell-Smith) use a computer to create a dream girl in the form of babe LeBrock. Too bad that no one decided to do anything remotely interesting with this premise, as she just becomes something of a mentor to the nerdy teens and teaches them a little bit about courage and self-confidence (very, very little) as they throw a big party, catch the attention of a couple of one-dimensional lookers (Snyder, Aronson), and everything gets wrapped up nice and tidy—yawn. Vulgar and smarmy, yet neutered for a PG-13 rating, the only thing “weird” about the “science” is how it makes no sense and no one tries to explain it (why does LeBrock apparently have magical powers??). Hall is often obnoxious, Mitchell-Smith is as much a wimp at the beginning as he is at the end, but LeBrock at least plays her role with intelligence as sharp as her attitude. Good soundtrack (including Killing Joke, General Public, and Oingo Boingo’s title tune) is wasted.

36/100