Real Genius is a 1985 comedy film starring Val Kilmer and Gabriel Jarret. Mitch is one of the youngest students ever accepted to a university known for its programs for geniuses. He's partnered up with his roommate, science club legend Chris Knight, on a project to develop a high-powered laser. Together with their hyper-kinetic friends, they employ their intellects in the pursuit of bigger blasts, practical jokes, and a deeper understanding of what real genius is. When their final, functional laser is stolen by their teacher for a military weapon, they decide to get even.
In her review for the New York Times, Janet Maslin wrote, "the film is best when it takes them seriously, though it does so only intermittently." David Ansen wrote in his review for Newsweek magazine, "When it's good, the dormitory hig more