IMDb RATING
5.4/10
2.4K
YOUR RATING
14-year-old genius Eli is rejected from Harvard and ends up at Ivy League wannabe Whittman U, where he meets 41-year-old Leo, a gambler who has dropped out of life to enroll in college; Leo ... Read all14-year-old genius Eli is rejected from Harvard and ends up at Ivy League wannabe Whittman U, where he meets 41-year-old Leo, a gambler who has dropped out of life to enroll in college; Leo teaches Eli every bad habit he knows.14-year-old genius Eli is rejected from Harvard and ends up at Ivy League wannabe Whittman U, where he meets 41-year-old Leo, a gambler who has dropped out of life to enroll in college; Leo teaches Eli every bad habit he knows.
- Director
- Writers
- Stars
- Awards
- 2 wins total
Kevin-Alan Daniels
- Harvard Three
- (as Kevin Alan Daniels)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
5.42.4K
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Featured reviews
559th Review: Geekie, Indie, Funny - And Much Better Than You'd Think
We loved HairBrained - it's got a real 80s teenage movie vibe meets college days with a hipster indie streak - it's silly, and cool, and just kooky enough to be off the beaten track without going AWOL.
The plot of the 13 yr old genius (Alex Wolff) gets to go to college and his adventures is one to simply kickback to and enjoy. Brendan Frasier and he make good foils for each other and the film has plenty of nice touches.
It subverts the sports / college genre nicely and all in all you could do a lot worse if you want a good sports comedy.
One of my favorite films of the year so far - honestly? A fun and original movie - and we don't get to say that often enough these days....
The plot of the 13 yr old genius (Alex Wolff) gets to go to college and his adventures is one to simply kickback to and enjoy. Brendan Frasier and he make good foils for each other and the film has plenty of nice touches.
It subverts the sports / college genre nicely and all in all you could do a lot worse if you want a good sports comedy.
One of my favorite films of the year so far - honestly? A fun and original movie - and we don't get to say that often enough these days....
Painful to watch, dull and overall lame
Oh man, where do I start to express my disappointment with this horrid movie ? It's incredible to believe that Brendan Fraser can sink lower in his career, but this film proves that anything is possible. This is probably the worst acting in his filmography. Also the script is boring, lame, stupid and predictable. Directing is one of the worst I have seen... ever. The kid is annoying beyond believe. They make a desperate attempt to make him be cute and tender, but the results are lame. Large parts of the movie try to be funny, but they are filled with clichés and absurd, non funny scenes... The perfect cure for insomnia.
"One Poof to Genius"
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.
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.
Funny
This is not a real review, it should be understood more as a collection of impressions on the film.
From my point of view, a fairly underrated film that entertains and amuses a lot, even if with a fairly banal and predictable plot, the film is still well developed and full of twists and turns that entertain the viewer very well. So if you are looking for a quiet and fun film to spend some time peacefully, this film is in my opinion a fairly right choice as the film doesn't have too many pretensions except that of being light and fun, and let's say it achieves this very well. In conclusion, in my opinion the film is worth it.
From my point of view, a fairly underrated film that entertains and amuses a lot, even if with a fairly banal and predictable plot, the film is still well developed and full of twists and turns that entertain the viewer very well. So if you are looking for a quiet and fun film to spend some time peacefully, this film is in my opinion a fairly right choice as the film doesn't have too many pretensions except that of being light and fun, and let's say it achieves this very well. In conclusion, in my opinion the film is worth it.
Doesn't quite hit the spot
Overall the movie is fairly enjoyable but it has some turns that just feels very forced and contrived.
And although the cast does a fine job there are some random character developments with some of the smaller roles that seem to happen instantly and completely out of the blue, for instance the popular girl who's personality literally changes from one scene to the next in one moment of the film.
And other random odd ideas, which doesn't seem like they were meant to be funny but just poor script-writing and lack of knowledge of human interaction or potentially something made up on spot while filming.
I won't go into too much details as I don't like to spoil movies but I'm sure if you watch it you'll figure out instances I could be referring to.
Anyways besides that yeah it's fairly entertaining it's just not as good as it could have been.
Oh and despite Brendan Fraser and Alex Wolff's tennis get-up on the poster I don't actually remember them playing tennis once in the movie (and I just watched it) so unless I dozed off a minute and they did that for 20 seconds then there's no tennis in this movie (and that seems unlikely).
And although the cast does a fine job there are some random character developments with some of the smaller roles that seem to happen instantly and completely out of the blue, for instance the popular girl who's personality literally changes from one scene to the next in one moment of the film.
And other random odd ideas, which doesn't seem like they were meant to be funny but just poor script-writing and lack of knowledge of human interaction or potentially something made up on spot while filming.
I won't go into too much details as I don't like to spoil movies but I'm sure if you watch it you'll figure out instances I could be referring to.
Anyways besides that yeah it's fairly entertaining it's just not as good as it could have been.
Oh and despite Brendan Fraser and Alex Wolff's tennis get-up on the poster I don't actually remember them playing tennis once in the movie (and I just watched it) so unless I dozed off a minute and they did that for 20 seconds then there's no tennis in this movie (and that seems unlikely).
Did you know
- TriviaThe song Burn Harvard Burn is by indie rock band The Front Bottoms, being one of the only songs they are featured in a film for.
- GoofsAt 1:06:40, Gertrude Lee plays bass without a cable plugged to an amplifier; in the following scenes, the bass is connected to an amplifier.
- How long is Hair Brained?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Runtime
- 1h 37m(97 min)
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content






