HairBrained

PG-13

Released Feb 28, 2014

1 hr. 37 min.

Comedy

List

22%

18 Reviews

Tomatometer

25%

100+ Ratings

Audience Score

A brilliant teen (Alex Wolff) and a 41-year-old gambling addict (Brendan Fraser) become unlikely buddies at college.

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Audience Member

Decent watch, probably won't watch again, and can't sincerely recommend. I like Brendan Fraser well enough and he nailed it in this support role, but Alex Wolff pretty much carries the movie, playing off of everyone else wonderfully. It is rare to have a collegiate coming of age story, but they managed to cover the idiosyncrasies of a young genius in a new world quite well. What really breaks me from the movie is the slew of crimes being committed against Eli as he is 13-14 years old. The other thing is that trivia isn't the most exciting thing, as exampled by the movie. They could have easily done an applied science competition that would have been a bit more compelling. While I don't regret watching this subtle, slice of life story, there just isn't much to say about it: just very little payoff.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/18/23

Full Review

Audience Member

It wasnâ(TM)t terribly funny, nor was it inspiring. It was simply cute.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/22/23

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Audience Member

i was thinking this was going to be a horrible movie, but i was wrong. it is definitely a cheesy, independent comedy, but it is also a really good, and fun movie.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

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Audience Member

just ok not that funny

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Review: This is one of those low budget comedies about a teenage school kid who is a genius. Because of his advanced mind, he enters the college mastermind competitions with the major goal of beating Harvard. With his new found friend, an 41 year old student played by Fraser, and his 3 team mates, they battle through the competition achieving more than expected. I personally didn't find this movie that funny or even slightly interesting. If you don't take the movie that seriously, then it's light hearted fun, but the storyline is quite weak and the acting wasn't anything spectactular. There are a couple of scenes which were quite amusing, but it's not a movie that I will be watching again in a hurry. Disappointing! Round-Up: As I hadn't heard of this movie before, I wasn't expecting that much. I was shocked to see that Brendan Fraser was in this movie because it seemed more like a college teenage film, but after watching it, I do see the point of his casting. He has definitely had one of the weirdest careers to date, because he has made some really bad movies and then he will casted in a blockbuster. From the Mummy franchise and G.I. Joe, to silly movies like Furry Vegeance and Bedazzled, he really has had a versatile career. I did like him in Crash and Gimme Shelter so he does have his good moments, which are mostly when he is playing serious roles. In this movie he has gone into comedic mode, but personally I didn't find him that funny.Â I recommend this movie to people who are into there teenage movies about a college genius who enters mastermind competitions to try and beat Harvard. 3/10

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

01/18/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A few laughs here and there with a cute story but the movie is predictable and not memorable. It's average.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

Full Review

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Billy Kent

Director

Alex Wolff

Eli Pettifog

Brendan Fraser

Leo Searly

Julia Garner

Shauna

Teddy Bergman

Alan

Robin De Jesus

Romeo

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Dennis Harvey

Variety

A campus comedy that tries to transcend its many formulaic elements with an insufficient dose of absurdism.

Feb 28, 2014

Full Review

Christy Lemire

RogerEbert.com

"HairBrained" is painfully contrived and self-consciously quirky from the word go.

Rated: 1/4

Feb 28, 2014

Full Review

Miriam Bale

New York Times

Unfortunately, the movie lacks strong enough players to fill in subtext to Mr. Kent's formulaic setups, and the story flounders once Ms. Posey is out of the picture.

Feb 27, 2014

Full Review

Nicholas Bell

IONCINEMA.com

HairBrained play like a strangely adolescent offering, squandering its tiny gleams of talent for an onslaught of strained scenarios. Knowledge is power, generally speaking. Here, it's a notion exploited for deflating effect.

Rated: 1/5

Aug 29, 2019

Full Review

Lisa Nystrom

FILMINK (Australia)

HairBrained is enjoyable, lightweight entertainment and, for a story about a genius, it requires very little thinking.

Oct 31, 2014

Full Review

Kam Williams

Baret News

Think a poor man's cross of Napoleon Dynamite (2004) and Old School (2003) where a coming-of-age tale merges with a midlife crisis.

Rated: 2/4

Mar 1, 2014

Full Review

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Synopsis

A brilliant teen (Alex Wolff) and a 41-year-old gambling addict (Brendan Fraser) become unlikely buddies at college.

Director: Billy Kent
Executive Producer: Stacy Blain, Stephanie Ingrassia, Tim Ingrassia, Jason Mraz
Screenwriter: Sarah Bird, Billy Kent, Adam Wierzbianski
Distributor: Vertical Entertainment
Production Co: Love Lane Pictures
Rating: PG-13 (Drug References|Crude and Sexual Content|Language|Nudity|Teen Smoking and Drinking)
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 28, 2014, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 24, 2014

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