I. Q.

The delightful comedy I.Q. finds Albert Einstein’s niece caught in a romantic choice between her rational but boring fiance and a dreamy auto mechanic. This delightful fantasy stars Meg Ryan as Einstein’s niece, a dedicated mathematician happily engaged to a stuffy, intellectual psychologist — that is until a fateful stop at a service station where she meets auto mechanic and amateur scientist Tim Robbins. Their eyes meet, and the reaction is positively celestial. Although Ryan will not allow herself to fall for a “mere” mechanic, Uncle Albert takes an instant liking to the young man. He launches a plot to convince his niece that Robbins is actually an undiscovered genius. The plan works all too well, and soon Uncle Albert must either tell her the truth or face rigorous questioning that may reveal his fraud.

It does not take an Einstein to guess how this endearing film will end. However, what keeps the viewer hooked is the hilarity, particularly the antics of Einstein and his lovable scientist cronies. Walter Matthau is skillful in his performance as Einstein, and Meg Ryan is perfectly believable as his mathematician niece, while maintaining an effortless girlishness throughout the film. The gorgeous cinematography reinforces the innocent 1940s feel of this good-natured picture that even touches on Christian themes as mortality and God’s ordering the universe.