The Genius Club

"A criminal threatens to destroy Washington, D.C. with a nuclear bomb unless seven people with 200+ IQs can solve all the world's problems in one night." How's that for the premise of a Christian film? It sure beats "A pop star struggles with her faith," or "A man must convince his brother-in-law of the importance of Christ in the Christmas season." A lot of people, including many Christians, dislike Christian films because:

1. They tend to be lower-budget and lower-quality, cinematically speaking, then most other films.

2. In an attempt to be "family friendly" and "wholesome," they often avoid or trivialize serious issues.

While "The Genius Club" can't overcome the first criticism, it seems as if the filmmakers recognized the second criticism, and decided to make a film that does nothing but address serious issues. Welcome to a Christian film that is not family-friendly. I can't think of a single other Christian film where characters make statements like, "Cancer hasn't been cured because that would mean the loss of millions of jobs in a booming health care industry."

"Solving the world's problems" takes the form of a debate between the seven genius characters and the villain. As time goes on, the stakes get higher, and they go from talking about things like politics and war to things like good and evil. As long as the debate is going on, which is most of the film, the dialogue is pretty well-thought-out and covers deep ground (it slacks off during the breaks, though). You might expect a character to make a statement implying that all the world's problems would be solved if everyone became Christians, but that does not happen. Instead, the film's thesis seems to be that we need to let of greed, let go of hate, and love one another. One of the seven is a seminary student and another is an atheist, and there is some debate about God, Jesus, and religion, but it is not antagonistic like in, say, "God's Not Dead," since the seven characters are seen as working together against a common adversary. Actually, the villain here is a more reasonable and rational character than the professor in "God's Not Dead."

Overall, I enjoyed "The Genius Club" as much as I enjoy movies that I would normally give an "8," but I have to give it a "7" instead, since some of the dialogue and acting was very unconvincing, especially towards the very beginning and the very end. Even so, I consider it one of the better Christian films I have seen, as it has meatier and more mature content than most others. I recommend it to people who are open- minded about Christianity and, for that matter, budgets.

The cast in this movie is sensational!! With memorable characters and excellent music, this is a great piece of work.

It's about these 7 geniuses who are forced to solve the world's problems in one night.

Disregarding that each character is a stereotype, the movie is entirely realistic and is an eye-opening look at the emotions and impact that a social life or a cruel mistreated life takes on these geniuses.

They reveal their deepest secrets, and learn about themselves in the process Original and insightful, with a large cult following that it deserves

100000000000000000000000000000 kudos!

i expected a lot more out of these "genius" people. 1. the woman at the beginning doesn't even ask for ID and lets herself be taken. 2. pizza man? 3. the lady has an asthma attack every minute and fails to use her inhaler 4. the same lady that has asthma doesn't know what shes talking about when shes talking about how it wasn't chance that humans became humans and how the world is so perfect. humans are not perfect. far from it. if she ever took a biology class she would know why.

i can go on forever with this film but if u get passed all that nonsense, the message it good. and all those points i will agree on. all the questions that he was asking.

10/10 - I agree with everyone.

I just watched this yesterday again :) Why on earth does this film only have a 5.8? It should have won some award. I was at my grandmothers and we all watched my DVD it 3 generations of us all watched it all loved it from my little cousin 10 - my grandparents 70s With a steady stream of laughs, masterful & quite original plot line and includes a very intriguing character ensemble. Incredible words. Incredible insight. Solving the world's problems. Just incredible. It's about Jesus in the end. Only thing that makes sense. The Genius Club is timeless, if you enjoy it the second time you will enjoy it forever. I mention second time as the humor is a fairly conservative and educated so you need to pay attention. Or you will definitely miss the hilarity of Tom Sizemore's character as it isn't directly implied like skit comedies such as Road Trip and Old School. Which are boring after 2 views.

Rating 10/10.

'Genius Club' deserves all the superlatives you could possible use to describe it. Everything about this film is perfect, and if there's one film that literally everybody should be obliged to watch at least once in his/her lifetime, I think it ought to be this one. Sweaty, gritty, claustrophobic. A lesson in tight direction and editing, and with performances to match....

I do not often start my reviews with blunt and opinionated statements, but in this case, it's justified. "Genius Club" is righteously considered as one of the top 5 most genius movies ever made I believe. This is a classic film wherein where tension comes from personality conflict, dialogue and body language. Although it may sound ungallant, these 7 geniuses, are all right without distaff glamour. Their dramas are powerful and provocative enough to keep a viewer spellbound. Tim Chey, who is in his directorial debut, effectively modulates the drama without ever taking the camera out of the genius room until the verdict is in from the terrorist named 'Armand' I believe or 'Ormand' (?). As for the story,it was mechanically written, but within its own middlebrow limitations, it delivers the goods as it presents a powerful impact to the viewer.

Overall, this does deserve to be considered one of the finest American films of all time. It keeps the viewer riveted every step of the way.