If I Had Known I Was a Genius (2007)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Dominique Wirtschafter

Writer (WGA):

Markus Redmond (written by)

Release Date:

30 November 2007 (Romania)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

A teenager with a high I.Q. who decides to become an actor. When his TV show gets cancelled, he is faced with a difficult career choice.

Plot Keywords:

Repetition In Title | Beautiful Woman

Cast

Markus Redmond	...	Michael Reed
Whoopi Goldberg	...	Mom
Keith David	...	Dad
Debra Wilson	...	Teresa
Sharon Stone	...	Gloria Fremont
Tara Reid	...	Stephanie
Della Reese	...	Nana
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Nikita Ager	...	Cute Girl Club
Reed Alexander	...	Gifted kid #1
John Balma	...	Gifted School Teacher
Steven E. Barnes	...	Highschool Student
Daniel Benzali	...	Walter
Jenica Bergere	...	Bitchy Young Woman
Nadia Bjorlin	...	Faith
Kwesi Boakye	...	Little Boy
Mark Boone Junior	...	Engine Man
Jimmy Bradley	...	Official #1
Brett Buford	...	Rich Kid
McCaleb Burnett	...	Jeremy Fuller
Brianna Canillas	...	BSU Clique
Roslyn Cohn	...	Cost Surplus Dress Woman
Scarlett Cummings	...	Kid
David Denman	...	Baker
Izzy Diaz	...	Adult Acting Teacher
Bree Elise	...	Black Student Union Clique
Wayne Charles Fugate	...	High School Student
Rafael Gonzalez	...	Black Guy
John Griffin	...	Official #2
Noel Gugliemi	...	Angel
Julie Hagerty	...	Rich School Teacher
Kira Legg	...	Rich School Girl
Christian Monzon	...	Chief
Wendy O'Hara	...	Loopy Female Customer
Jeran Pascascio	...	High School Student
Summer Perry	...	Sephanie's Friend
Andy Pessoa	...	Gifted Kid #2
Rob Pinkston	...	Young Drinker
Andy Richter	...	Game Show Host
Beaux Schroeder	...	Kid
Elliott Smith	...	Jr. High Guy
French Stewart	...	Public School Principal
Shawna Sutherland	...	Hot Girl In Bar
Livia Treviño	...	Public School Teacher
Shannon Vann	...	High School Student
Paul Witten	...	Male Casting Associate
Kelvin Yu	...	Cost Surplus Customer

Also Known As:

Genius: If Only I Had Known (USA) (poster title)
If I'd Known I Was a Genius (USA) (alternative spelling)

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Chicago Pictures

Annoying, invertebrate whiner

"If I had known I was a genius"--it would change nothing! Here's why. So, he's very smart. He knows it. Why does he end up working at Walmart? With gifts such as his, becoming a loser is not fate, it's a choice. Why do you need to know your IQ anyway if everyone says you are very smart and you know you finish tests perfect even in a really good school? If you indeed have high IQ you would figure things out, or bypass your mother and ask plenty of other people who know the number. You could do all that if you really were smart. But he chooses to cry about it and blame his mother instead. He gets a TV show career where being test-smart is useless (we all know how "smart" most Hollywood is) He needs to grow a spine, too. His mother tells him he cannot become an architect because "everything's built already". Well, if you can put 2 and 2 together (high IQ) you would say "ridiculous"! But all his life he can never stand up to anyone, make his own choices without listening to all these idiots around him, including his mother. No wonder he ends up such a loser. The whole movie is just like that--a whiny guy who never makes his own career choices. No amount of IQ can compensate for that. You could build those rockets, boy, if you only made a decision to.

Then there is the idiot mother. You are comfortable telling your son all his life he's ugly (how inspirational is that!) but the minute he gets 165 IQ you resist like crazy telling him he's a genius. You yell when he wants to become an architect but are OK with a career proposition of a weird drama class teacher? Wait a minute, you said your son was ugly, how can you let him on TV? She would be much more useful as a mother if she died at his birth.

I could go on and on about it, but to anyone who, like myself, will sit through the entire film hoping this guy would finally turn around and kick everyone's rear end, forget it. He never will, and I bet, in real life, someone like that would continue working at Walmart.