Review of My Science Project (1985) by Bryan G — 16 Sep 2009

Writer/director Jonathan R. Betuel's My Science Project is one of the most mixed bags of entertainment that emerged out of the 80's. It has a couple quirks to it that made My Science Project an enjoyable and easy film to sit through, but it also has a lot of aspects to it that made the experience far from perfect. I don't know if Touchstone Pictures was expecting Back to the Future, which came out that same year, to be a huge hit and they wanted their own time travel flick to cash in on the craze. But I can say that Back to the Future was far better executed than this film.

The thing I liked the most about My Science Project was the way it handled time travel. Instead of its characters traveling back and forth through time, the film has a time warp that brings things (people, animals, ect...) from different time periods (both past and future) into the current time (which for this film is the 1980's). After seeing so many films feature the standard back/forward through time concept, it was nice to see a film that just brought the different time periods together. That way you get to see exciting things like dinosaurs, future savages and various warriors from different war torn periods fighting it out.

I didn't care much for main character Michael Harlan (John Stockwell). He is arrogant, mean-spirited and a trashy kind of guy, and I had a difficult time connecting with him. It was interesting to see this sort of character form a relationship with a nerdy girl, Ellie (Danielle von Zerneck), but the film doesn't develop their relation much. Most of the film is spent focusing on Michael and his annoying friend Vince (Fisher Stevens), who is probably one of the most offensive "greasy Italian" stereotype I've seen on film. And each of his supposedly funny lines were anything but funny.

One of the better outcomes of having a jerk as the hero was the chance for the nerd to play a villain of sorts. Sherman (Raphael Sbarge), who is jealous that Ellie likes Michael, was an interesting character. And I like that he wasn't too much of a weasel. Probably the most recognizable face in the film is Dennis Hopper, who plays science teacher Bob Roberts. Unfortunately he isn't in the film enough to really utilize his abilities. Still, both Sbarge and Hopper were two of the better actors in the film.

To say that My Science Project isn't entertaining is speaking too harshly. The movie isn't boring, it keeps a rather steady pace and has enough fun to it that makes it a decent watch. But the film has a difficult time developing its characters, putting good use to its time travel theme and mixing these two together. Bits and pieces work, but as a whole My Science Project just quite couldn't shape up to a good science fiction flick.