SiskelandEbertonceranaspecialshowentitled"MoviesI'mEmbarrassedtoAdmitILiked."IsupposethatifIcomposedsuchalistofguiltypleasures,thisonewouldbeoneofthem...butuponreflection,it'sreallyalotbetterthanthat.Fifteenyear-oldscienceprodigyMitch(GabeJarret)isrecruitedbyambitiouscollegeprofessorWilliamAtherton(inyetanotherofhispatentedrolesasaloathsomecharacter)toworkontheprofessor'sprizelaserproject,notknowingthattheprofisreallydevelopingagovernmentweapon.Alongtheway,MitchisbefriendedbyChris(ValKilmer),anotherprodigyafewyearshisseniorwhoteachestheMitchhowtoloosenup.
Thiscouldhavedegeneratedintonothingmorethanjustanotherteenrevengecomedy,butthere'ssomuchmore:thedialogueislacedwithsharpwittherearesomelovelyscenesthathavenothingtodowiththestoryyetarecarefullysetup,almostasblackouts(e.g.,Mitchgoestoalectureatwhichafewstudentshavelefttaperecordersinsteadofattendinglater,atanotherlecturetherearemoretaperecordersthanstudentsand,inafinalscene,onelargetaperecordergivesthelecturetoaroompopulatedbynothingbutothersmallrecorders!)andthrow-awayscenesthatmakeyouwanttostopandbackupthetape(e.g.,Chrisoff-handedlycuttingasliceoffabarofsolidnitrogentomakeaslugforthecoffeemachine).
It'salsooneofthefewmoviestoboastthepresenceofthememorableMichelleMeyerink--asJordan,the"girl-nerd"whomadebeingsmartandfemalesomethingtobeemulated.Andthere'sTearsforFearsgreatsong,"EverybodyWantstoRuletheWorld"providingtheperfectcodaastheclosingcreditsbegintoroll....Yes:reallynow,what'stheretobeembarrassedabout?