Young Einstein
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| Young Einstein | |
|---|---|
 VHS cover. |
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| Directed by | Yahoo Serious |
| Produced by | David Roach Warwick Ross Yahoo Serious |
| Written by | David Roach Yahoo Serious |
| Starring | Yahoo Serious Odile Le Clezio John Howard Peewee Wilson Su Cruickshank |
| Music by | Martin Armiger Iva Davies William Motzing Maurie Sheldon Tommy Tycho Simon Walker Ken Francis |
| Cinematography | Jeff Darling |
| Editing by | David Roach Amanda Robson Neil Thumpston Peter Whitmore |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| Release date(s) | December 1988 (Australia) 4 August 1989 (U.S.) |
| Running time | 91 minutes |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $14 million |
| Box office | $11,536,599 |
Young Einstein is an Australian comedy film directed by and starring Yahoo Serious, released in 1988.
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[edit] Plot
Albert Einstein, the son of an apple farmer in Tasmania in the early 1900s, splits a beer atom with a chisel in order to add bubbles to beer, discovers the theory of relativity and travels to Sydney to patent it. While there, he invents the electric guitar and surfing while romancing Marie Curie. He invents rock and roll and uses it to save the world from being destroyed due to misuse of a nuclear reactor under the watchful eye of Charles Darwin.
[edit] Reception
The film overall received poor reviews.[1] In giving it one star out of four, Roger Ebert called it a "one-joke movie, and I didn't laugh much the first time." He postulated that the possible lack of appeal to an American audience was because "By moving Einstein to Australia, he was able to set up comic situations that appeal to the vast and inexhaustible fascination the Australians have about their own isolation and gawky charm. But the jokes don't travel very well."[2] The reviewers at the Washington Post were unimpressed: Rita Kempley called the film "dumber-than-a-bowling-ball" and questioned its mass appeal; Desson Howe noted that distributor Warner Bros. had made it a "pre-processed legend" regardless of merit.[3][4] The New York Times was more tempered, noting that though the film was "an uneven series of sketches strung along an extended joke", that the first time director Serious "is a much more adept film maker than his loony plot suggests."[5]
The Los Angeles Times gave a favorable review, saying the film would appeal to younger audiences and that "it's just about impossible to dislike a movie in which examples of the hero's pacifism include his risking his life to save kitties from being baked to death inside a pie."[6] Similarly, critic/historian Leonard Maltin felt that "...Any movie with 'cat-pies' can't be all bad." Neil Jillett of Australia's The Age reviewed the film positively, noting that despite some "directorial slackness", the film was "a lively work that is sophisticated and innocent, witty and farcical, satirical and unmalicious, intelligent but not condescending, full of concern with big issues but not arrogantly didactic, thoroughly Australian but not nationalistic."[7]
The film has not yet been released in Australia on Region 4 DVD.
[edit] Cast
- Yahoo Serious - Albert Einstein
- Odile Le Clezio - Marie Curie
- John Howard - Preston Preston
- Peewee Wilson - Mr. Einstein
- Su Cruickshank - Mrs. Einstein
- Lulu Pinkus - The Blonde
- Kaarin Fairfax - The Brunette
- Michael Lake - Manager
- Jonathan Coleman - Wolfgang Bavarian
- Johnny McCall - Rudy Bavarian / Tasmanian Devil
- Michael Blaxland - Desk Clerk
- Ray Fogo - Bright Clerk
- Paul Jurisic - Young Kid
- Zanzi Mann - Young Kid
- Terry Pead - Inventor Couple
- Alice Pead - Inventor Couple
- Frank McDonald - Nihilist
[edit] Box office
Young Einstein grossed $13,383,377 at the box office in Australia.[8] It grossed over $11 million in its United States theatrical run.[9]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "Young Einstein on rottentomatoes.com". Au.rottentomatoes.com. http://au.rottentomatoes.com/m/young_einstein/. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
- ^ Roger Ebert, Young Einstein, RogerEbert.com, 4 August 1989, accessed 23 January 2011.
- ^ Rita Kempley, ‘Young Einstein’ (PG), Washington Post, 4 August 1989, accessed 23 January 2011.
- ^ Desson Howe, ‘Young Einstein’ (PG), Washington Post, 4 August 1989, accessed 23 January 2011.
- ^ Caryn James, Review/Film; Silliness And Science That Equal One Einstein, The New York Times, 4 August 1989, accessed 23 January 2011.
- ^ Chris Willman, 'Young Einstein': Humorous Rock 'n' Roll Formula, Los Angeles Times, 4 August 1989, accessed 23 January 2011.
- ^ Jillett, Neil (15 December 1988). "Yahoo's comedy is very funny, seriously". The Age. p. 14. http://news.google.ca/newspapers?id=Y0UVAAAAIBAJ&pg=1962,1796538. Retrieved 24 May 2010.
- ^ Film Victoria - Australian Films at the Australian Box Office
- ^ "Young Einstein (1989)". Boxofficemojo.com. 29 August 1989. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=youngeinstein.htm. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
[edit] External links
- Young Einstein at the Internet Movie Database
- Young Einstein at the National Film and Sound Archive
- FilmSack Podcast #38
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