SiskelandEbertonceranaspecialshowentitledMoviesI'mEmbarrassedtoAdmitILiked.IsupposethatifIcomposedsuchalistofguiltypleasures,thisonewouldbeoneofthem...butuponreflection,it'sreallyalotbetterthanthat.Fifteenyear-oldscienceprodigyMitch(GabeJarret)isrecruitedbyambitiouscollegeprofessorWilliamAtherton(inyetanotherofhispatentedrolesasaloathsomecharacter)toworkontheprofessor'sprizelaserproject,notknowingthattheprofisreallydevelopingagovernmentweapon.Alongtheway,MitchisbefriendedbyChris(ValKilmer),anotherprodigyafewyearshisseniorwhoteachestheMitchhowtoloosenup. Thiscouldhavedegeneratedintonothingmorethanjustanotherteenrevengecomedy,butthere'ssomuchmorethedialogueislacedwithsharpwit;therearesomelovelyscenesthathavenothingtodowiththestoryyetarecarefullysetup,almostasblackouts(e.g.,Mitchgoestoalectureatwhichafewstudentshavelefttaperecordersinsteadofattending;later,atanotherlecturetherearemoretaperecordersthanstudents;and,inafinalscene,onelargetaperecordergivesthelecturetoaroompopulatedbynothingbutothersmallrecorderddd!);andthrow-awayscenesthatmakeyouwanttostopandbackupthetape(e.g.,Chrisoff-handedlycuttingasliceoffabarofsolidnitrogentomakeaslugforthecoffeemachine). It'salsooneofthefewmoviestoboastthepresenceofthememorableMichelleMeyerink--asJordan,thegirl-nerdwhomadebeingsmartandfemalesomethingtobeemulated.Andthere'sTearsforFearsgreatsong,EverybodyWantstoRuletheWorldprovidingtheperfectcodaastheclosingcreditsbegintoroll....Yesreallynow,what'stheretobeembarrassedabout