The Manhattan Project Movie Review

For a science fair, a high-school genius builds a functional nuclear bomb, complete with plutonium swiped from a government lab, and a manhunt (or kidhunt) begins. John Lithgow is excellent as a flippant weapons scientist who belatedly realizes the destructive power held by a mere boy – and, by extension, anyone with nukes. Teen technothriller has a splendid concept (far better than My Science Project) but after raising viewer expectations, is disarmed by way too many plot implausibilities. Director Marshall Brickman co-wrote Woody Allen's similarly titled but ever-so-unrelated Manhattan. AKA: Manhattan Project: The Deadly Game.

1985 (PG-13) 112m/C John Lithgow, Christopher Collet, Cynthia Nixon, Jill Eikenberry, John Mahoney, Sully Boyer, Richard Council, Robert Schenkkan, Paul Austin; D: Marshall Brickman; W: Marshall Brickman, Thomas Baum; C: Billy Williams; M: Philippe Sarde. VHS, Beta, LV REP