jackiecouchman

A Q&A session with the producer directly after the screening just reinforced my view of the movie. It was very self indulgent and, for me, missed the mark. The film techniques were very obvious and very contrived. The random, untied threads, that came and went without particular reason were nothing other than irritating. The story was a straightforward one and the subject matter interesting. However "Bypass" neither went anywhere worthwhile, nor offered hope or engagement. Rather a disappointing offering. The only thing that made it worthwhile was George MacKay's performance. He clearly inhabited the character; the pity was that for the viewer we didn't get to see inside his head or heart (or maybe he didn't have one).

A content-rich story which is a good watch and an excellent source of further discussion. Brilliantly cast with utterly believable characters, this movie grabbed my attention from start to finish.

The issues of brilliance and difference amongst children (and adults) were laid out to be examined and developed. The vehicle of the Mathematics Olympiad honed the obsessive traits in context and brushed past the issue of bullying within the group. The over-the-shoulder-looks at the past cleverly teased out elements of the present.

It avoided the obvious focus of winning or losing in favour of the bigger prize - human connection.

The perfectly pitched boy-meets-girl thread moved the story to a different plane. The ending was satisfyingly ambiguous in a did they, didn't they, sort of way.

I think it's fair to say that most of us have known a Quinn-type character; excessively nervous, inclined to exhibit OCD tendencies, intelligent but inarticulate, lovable but not obviously attractive. Helberg couldn't be other than he acts himself, could he? His character is played out perfectly and hilariously. If only the same could be said for the other characters, most of which hardly got off the starting blocks. Major opportunities were missed to explore the supporting characters and their motives; maybe other movies will follow to redress this omission? Favourite moment has to be when Quinn realises that his dream "model" girl isn't at all compatible with him and his reaction to those deal-breaking traits. A funny, watchable movie which was exactly the length it needed to be. I would like to see a sequel which told us what happened next to Quinn and perhaps also what happened next to the other main characters, Devon, Kelsey, Jameson, Kurt and Terry (or maybe a retrospective for him).