Starting with the delectable premise of two high school nerds who create a woman through some inexplicable computer hocus-pocus, Weird Science veers off into a typical coming-of-age saga without exploring any of the psychological territory it lightly sails over in the early going.
Helplessly horny chums Gary (Anthony Michael Hall) and Wyatt (Ilan Mitchell-Smith), in an act of creative frustration, put their brains together and create the answer to their fantasies – the beautiful and very available Lisa (Kelly Le Brock). The trouble is the boys hardly use her.
Although clearly not grounded in reality, the film really goes nowhere with its central conceit, opting instead for a more ordinary approach . Director John Hughes never capitalizes on the idea that Lisa is a creation of 15-year-old psyches or examines the intriguing question of who controls whom in this relationship.
Hughes’ true gift is at capturing the naturalistic rhythms and interaction between the boys with a great ear for dialog. Le Brock is just right as the film’s calm but commanding center.
