I.Q. (1994) * * *

Directed by:  Fred Schepisi

Starring:  Tim Robbins, Meg Ryan, Walter Matthau, Gene Saks, Joseph Maher, Lou Jacobi, Stephen Fry, Tony Shalhoub, Frank Whaley, Charles Durning

I.Q. is a sweet, slight romantic comedy in which the characters' hearts and brains battle until the heart ultimately wins.     Auto mechanic Ed Walters (Robbins) falls in love with Princeton mathematician Catherine Boyd (Ryan), whose uncle is Albert Einstein (Matthau).    Ed has obstacles in his path to winning Catherine's hand, such as her snobbish scientist fiancé who Einstein and his genius friends can't stand, and the inescapable truth that Ed is a mechanic while Catherine is an intellectual.     Ed isn't dumb, but how can he compete intellectually with his rival?     Einstein and his friends devise a devious, mischievous way to make this happen.   

I.Q. takes place in the early 1950's on sunny fall days perfect for motorcycle riding.     Ed is fascinated by science and reads up on it, but Einstein sees the guy has a good heart and would be a much better match for his niece.     Einstein creates a web of fibs (let's not dare call them lies) in which he passes off one of his old, lesser-known theories as Ed's, thus stirring the interest of Catherine and the scorn of the fiancé James (Fry), who is not affectionately referred to as "the rat man" by Einstein and his friends. 

Through some deception and finagling, Ed is soon seen as an intellectual genius while Catherine slowly falls for him.     One of the pleasures of I.Q. is how Catherine is not a pushover.     She likes Ed well enough, but her own insecurities and class warfare cause her to pause.     Could she really be the wife of an (gasp) auto mechanic?    She approaches her engagement as a duty which will subject her to falling into 1950's societal norms in which the wife takes care of the children and the house.     It is not something she is exactly looking forward to, but she feels trapped.     This isn't the best way to start a marriage.      

Robbins relies on effortless charm.    Sure, he is being deceitful, but he is still a better guy than the stodgy James, who is more at home in his lab full of rats.    We forgive him his trespasses because his heart beats so fiercely for Catherine.     Walter Matthau may not be the first actor you think of to play Einstein, but he plays the genius with a glint of mischief in his eye.     His friends, all geniuses themselves, aid Einstein in his quest to unite Ed and Catherine, mostly so they can do something other than debate each other.   

I.Q. may keep some at arm's length because it takes place in a world of science and intellectualism.    The milieu doesn't matter as much as the warmth the characters exude.     They do some wrong things for the right reasons and when the outcome occurs as expected, it is genuinely touching.    As Einstein says, "Don't let your brain interfere with your heart."    Fortunately, the people in the film take his advice.