The Genius Club

Last updated
The Genius Club
The Genius Club (2006 film) poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Tim Chey
Written byTim Chey
Produced byExecutive producers:
Keiki Nishimura
Stephen Baldwin
Tom Sizemore
Jack Scalia
Producers:
Arch Bonnema
Daishi Takiishi
Tim Chey
Mike Tarzian
Alisha Dickinson
Douglas White
Starring Stephen Baldwin
Tom Sizemore
Jack Scalia
CinematographyTyler Allison
Edited byTim Chey
Music byDaniel Bijan
Distributed byRiverRain Productions
Release date
  • 27 October 2006 (2006-10-27)(United States)
Running time
110 minutes
Country United States
Language English

The Genius Club is an American 2006 Christian-themed dramatic thriller film written and directed by Tim Chey. It was released on 27 October 2006 via Cinemark Theatres. [1]

Contents

The film tells the story of seven geniuses who try to solve the world's problems in one night in order to prevent a nuclear bomb from exploding in Washington, D.C. The film was produced and distributed by Cloud Ten Pictures and RiverRain Productions.

Plot

On Christmas Eve, Armand (Tom Sizemore), a terrorist who has a hidden nuclear device in Washington D.C., forces the president of the United States government (Jack Scalia) to round up seven geniuses with IQs over 200. The group consists of a casino owner (Carol Abney), a biochemist (Paula Jai Parker), a professional baseball player (Matt Medrano), a seminary student (Jacob Bonnema), an economics professor (Phillip Moon), a painter (Tricia Helfer), and a pizza delivery guy (Stephen Baldwin).

The government places them in a bomb shelter and explains the group that they are there to solve the world's problems in one night; if they fail to gather a thousand points before morning, the terrorist will detonate the hidden nuclear device planted in the basement of the 'genius lair'.

Cast

Background

The film was marketed during the 2007 Marché du Film (film market) which ran simultaneously with the 60th annual Cannes Film Festival.

Director Tim Chey wanted to make a film about the world's issues while combining the humanity and intelligence of the various character geniuses. [2] Arch Bonnema produced the film, and his son Jacob plays Jacob Chernov, the seminary student.

The film is not explicitly religious, though it is Christian in its tone and message; seminary student Chernov, for example, at times quotes the Bible and answers the "meaning of life" question by observing that "there is no meaning outside of God."

Both director Tim Chey, who is a Christian, and the producers believed it was important that a "real Christian" play the part of Jacob Chernov, hence the selection of Jacob Bonnema, a Christian like his father. [3]

Critical reception

Most critical reviews were negative. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 14% based on 7 reviews. [4]

Tom Maurstad, of The Dallas Morning News , described it as a "stultifying, static movie about a group of people trapped in a dingy boardroom yelling at one another and their tormentor. [...] The film's look is relentlessly dark and gritty, like Fight Club without all the fights. Meanwhile, the set-up, a group of strangers thrown together into some sadistic game designed by a psycho genius overseeing all via video screen, is like Saw without the gruesome carnage." [5]

Gary Cogill of WFAA-TV called it a "very earnest film" and said "it has some moments. But the whole movie boils down to solving spiritual problems, and it's awkward without any subtle moments. [6]

Yet, its Christian message did appeal to critics from Southern Vanity, a Dallas-based lifestyle magazine,[ citation needed ] and it won the Dove "Family Approved" Seal in June 2008. [7]

Distribution

The movie was released on DVD in September 2008.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Buckley</span> American musician (1947–1975)

Timothy Charles Buckley III was an American musician. He began his career based in folk rock, but subsequently experimented with genres such as psychedelia, jazz, the avant-garde, and funk paired with his unique five-octave vocal range. His commercial peak came with the 1969 album Happy Sad, reaching No. 81 on the charts, while his experimental 1970 album Starsailor went on to become a cult classic. The latter contained his best known song, "Song to the Siren." Buckley died at the age of 28 from a heroin and morphine overdose, leaving behind one biological son, Jeff, and one adopted son, Taylor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Sizemore</span> American actor (1961–2023)

Thomas Edward Sizemore Jr. was an American actor. Born in Detroit, Michigan, he started his career with supporting appearances in Born on the Fourth of July (1989), Lock Up (1989), and Blue Steel (1990). These appearances led to more prominent roles in films like Passenger 57 (1992), True Romance (1993), Striking Distance (1993), Natural Born Killers (1994), Strange Days (1995), Heat (1995), and The Relic (1997).

Jack Scalia is an American actor. Scalia is perhaps best known for his frequent appearances in prime-time television series and television movies in the 1980s and 1990s, as well as feature films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kyle Reese</span> Fictional character in the Terminator franchise

Kyle Reese is a fictional character in the Terminator franchise, Kyle is the protagonist of the first film and a supporting role in other works. Kyle Reese is portrayed by Michael Biehn in The Terminator (1984) and Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), Jonathan Jackson in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008–2009), Anton Yelchin in Terminator Salvation (2009), and Jai Courtney in Terminator Genisys (2015).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gil Bellows</span> Canadian actor (born 1967)

Gil Bellows is a Canadian actor, screenwriter, and director. He is best known for the roles of Tommy Williams in the 1994 movie The Shawshank Redemption, Billy Thomas in the Fox television series Ally McBeal (1997–2002), and CIA agent Matt Callan in the CBS television series The Agency (2001–2003). In 2016–2017, he was a regular cast member in the USA Network series Eyewitness.

<i>Battlestar Galactica</i> (miniseries) 2003 American science fiction miniseries

Battlestar Galactica: The Miniseries is a three-hour television miniseries starring Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell, written and produced by Ronald D. Moore and directed by Michael Rymer. It was the first part of the Battlestar Galactica remake based on the 1978 Battlestar Galactica television series, and served as a backdoor pilot for the 2004 television series. The miniseries aired originally on Sci Fi in the United States starting on December 8, 2003. The two parts of the miniseries attracted 3.9 and 4.5 million viewers, making the miniseries the third-most-watched program on Syfy.

<i>Piranha II: The Spawning</i> 1982 horror film by James Cameron

Piranha II: The Spawning is a 1982 monster horror film directed by James Cameron in his feature directorial debut. It is the sequel to the 1978 film Piranha, and the second installment in the Piranha film series. The screenplay was written by Cameron and Charles H. Eglee, under the shared pseudonym "H.A. Milton". The film stars Tricia O'Neil, Lance Henriksen, Steve Marachuk, Ted Richert, Ricky Paull Goldin, and Leslie Graves.

<i>3:10 to Yuma</i> (2007 film) 2007 film by James Mangold

3:10 to Yuma is a 2007 American action thriller film directed by James Mangold and produced by Cathy Konrad, starring Russell Crowe and Christian Bale in the lead roles, with supporting performances by Peter Fonda, Gretchen Mol, Ben Foster, Dallas Roberts, Alan Tudyk, Vinessa Shaw, and Logan Lerman. Bale plays a rancher impoverished by drought, who takes on the dangerous but lucrative job of taking a notorious outlaw (Crowe) to justice.

<i>Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story</i> 2005 American film

Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story is a 2005 American adult animated direct-to-video adventure comedy film set in the Family Guy fictional universe. Released on September 27, 2005, the film's main plot point concerns Stewie Griffin, following a near-death experience, trying to find who he thinks is his real father after seeing the man on TV. He travels to San Francisco, only to find that the man is him from the future. The DVD contains commentaries and a sneak peek preview of the American Dad! Volume 1 DVD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miles Fisher</span> American actor and musician (born 1983)

James Leslie Miles Fisher is an American actor, comedian, entrepreneur and musician. He made his debut in the CBS adaptation of the book True Women and starred in the 2000 film Lone Star Struck. In 2001, for his role in his short film Head Shot, Fisher won Best Actor at the International Teen Movie Festival.

<i>The Last Chance Detectives</i> Radio show

The Last Chance Detectives is a series of Christian television movies, and later a radio drama series created by Robert Vernon and produced by Focus on the Family in the mid-1990s. The production of each video episode cost approximately one million USD. The series focused on four preteen "sleuths" who solve mysteries in their fictional small town of Ambrosia, Arizona. When the radio shows were airing, Canyon Quest, a prequel book to the show, was released.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timothy A. Chey</span> American film director

Timothy A. Chey is an American film producer, writer and director. Among his films are Fakin' da Funk, Gone, Impact: The Passion of the Christ, Suing the Devil, The Genius Club, Live Fast, Die Young, Final the Rapture, Epic Journey, Freedom, David and Goliath, and Slamma Jamma.

<i>Suing the Devil</i> 2011 Australian film

Suing the Devil is a 2010 Christian thriller film which was released in 2011. It was written and directed by Tim Chey and stars Malcolm McDowell and Tom Sizemore.

<i>The Firm</i> (2012 TV series) Television sequel to the book

The Firm is a legal thriller television series that began airing in February 2012 on AXN, and is a sequel to the 1991 John Grisham novel of the same name and its 1993 film adaptation. It was also picked up for first run syndication by Global in Canada and NBC in the US before release. The television adaptation is set ten years after the novel and film.

<i>One Night with the King</i> 2006 American film

One Night with the King is a 2006 American religious epic film produced by Matt Crouch and Laurie Crouch of Gener8Xion Entertainment, directed by Michael O. Sajbel, and starring Peter O'Toole, Tiffany Dupont, John Rhys-Davies, and Luke Goss.

<i>On Cinema</i> Web series

On Cinema is an American comedy web series and podcast starring Tim Heidecker and Gregg Turkington. The duo appear, using their own names, as a pair of hapless movie reviewers to promote new film releases. The show started as an independently released podcast from 2011 to 2013, before being picked up as a professionally produced web video series by Thing X in 2012, continuing after the site merged with Adult Swim's website in 2013. The show moved to HEI Network, an independent service, in 2021, with funding given by user subscriptions and special event ticket purchases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 MTV Movie Awards</span>

The 2014 MTV Movie Awards were held on April 13, 2014, at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California. The show was hosted by late-night personality Conan O'Brien. The nominees were announced on the morning of March 6, 2014. Zendaya, Tyler Posey, and MTV News personalities Josh Horowitz and Christina Garibaldi co-hosted the pre-show.

<i>Lucifer</i> (TV series) American urban fantasy television series

Lucifer is an American urban fantasy television series developed by Tom Kapinos that began airing on January 25, 2016, and concluded on September 10, 2021. It revolves around Lucifer Morningstar, an alternate version of the DC Comics character of the same name created by Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth, and Mike Dringenberg from The Sandman. In the series, Lucifer is the devil but abandons Hell to run a nightclub in Los Angeles, subsequently experiencing massive life changes when he becomes a consultant to the Los Angeles Police Department. The supporting cast includes Lauren German, Kevin Alejandro, D. B. Woodside, Lesley-Ann Brandt, Rachael Harris, and Aimee Garcia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Minutaglio</span> American journalist

Bill Minutaglio is a journalist, educator and author of nine books. He is the recipient of a PEN Center USA Literary Award and has served as a professor at The University of Texas at Austin, where he was given The Regents' Outstanding Teaching Award.

<i>Orphan: First Kill</i> 2022 film directed by William Brent Bell

Orphan: First Kill is a 2022 American psychological horror film directed by William Brent Bell, written by David Coggeshall, based on a story by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick and Alex Mace. It is a prequel to the 2009 film Orphan. It stars Isabelle Fuhrman, Julia Stiles, Rossif Sutherland, Hiro Kanagawa, and Matthew Finlan.

References

  1. The Genius Club at IMDb.
  2. Chey, Tim Web site. Last accessed: April 28, 2008.
  3. Maurstad, Tom (12 November 2006). "A story with a twist". The Dallas Morning News . Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
  4. "The Genius Club". Rotten Tomatoes . Flixster . Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  5. Maurstad, Tom (27 October 2006). "The Genius Club". The Dallas Morning News . Archived from the original on 2 December 2007. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  6. Cogill, Gary (27 October 2006). "Movie Rant: Catch a Fire, Driving Lessons, The Genius Club, Conversations with God, American Hardcore, Running with Scissors".
  7. The Dove Foundation. "Genius Club, The". Christian Cinema. Archived from the original on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2017.