I.Q. (1994)

Love doesn't always follow logic, and sometimes even the greatest minds in the world need to help it along. Fred Schepisi's "I.Q." has all the ingredients of a classic romantic comedy. Meg Ryan had already shown her gift for comic romance in "When Harry Met Sally..." and "Sleepless in Seattle," and Schepisi's "Roxanne" ranks among the best modern romantic comedies. Tim Robbins had won acclaim for dramatic roles in "Jacob's Ladder" and "The Shawshank Redemption," but his early comic work, like the funny "The Sure Thing," shouldn't be forgotten, even if "Howard the Duck" is best left in the past. And Walter Matthau needs no introduction. Combine that talent with a fresh story, and the result is thoroughly charming. In 1950s Princeton, New Jersey, Ed Walters (Robbins), a friendly auto mechanic, is smitten at first sight with Catherine Boyd (Ryan), a lovely, gifted mathematician and the niece of Albert Einstein (Matthau, delightful). Catherine is engaged to James Moreland (Stephen Fry, perfectly cast), a stuffy, pompous psychologist whose idea of a romantic honeymoon is a research trip to Africa, while she secretly dreams of Hawaii. Einstein and his fellow scientist friends, played by Lou Jacobi, Gene Saks and Joseph Maher, decide to play matchmaker and pass Ed off as a brilliant physicist to win Catherine's heart, a scheme that gets wildly out of hand when Ed's supposed breakthrough in science draws national attention. It's a sweet but never sugary tale about "engineering" true love and the ironic triumph of heart over head. The terrific cast, which also includes Tony Shalhoub and Frank Whaley as Ed's fellow mechanics, draws you right into this winning film.