Bad GeniusBad Genius Is An Off The Beaten Path Movie Suggestion
Occasionally I trip across movies that I don’t see coming. Bad Genius (or Chalard Games Goeng) is a Thai film made for a little under $2 million American, and yet it carries the weight and the intensity of many normal Hollywood contenders. Some are heralding it as an Ocean’s Eleven for SATs. I’ve even seen a couple different reviewers saying that it’s as if Aaron Sorkin wrote a caper flick set in a high school. And no, its no Aaron Sorkin. But it is clever, and its begging for an American remake. Which, will probably just ruin it. But I’ll get to that in a minute.
Since there isn’t any deep dive happening in this write up, which I normally do, I figure I’ll give you the spoiler free overview of how the movie works and you can decide for yourself. Lynn, a wicked smart student, earns a scholarship into a very prestigious school. But struggling with fees, begins mentoring a friend. Realizing that its just easier to cheat, she starts setting up ever more complex ways to disseminate answers. And by the way? The international STIC community is cracking down on cheating and will spare nothing to catch her.
The cast of characters stays fairly small, with Lynn and Lynn’s father who plays a small but significant role. Grace plays the role of the ditzy acting student determined to get grades high enough to act in the next school play. And there’s Pat, Grace’s boyfriend who is the entitled rich kid every high school drama needs. And finally, there is Bank, the other super smart student of the school and a natural rival and competitor of Lynn’s. And voila, you have the making of pretty much every single Brat Pack 80’s movie ever made. Toss in some fairly well don caper mechanics and I really enjoyed this movie.