The Genius Club

The Genius Club is a 2006 film a thriller about seven geniuses who are called together to solve the world's problems in 1 night.

Directed by Tim Chey. Written by Tim Chey.

What if you had one night to solve the world's problems? For 7 geniuses, they have no choice. taglines

The various lines from Armand:

ARMAND (VOICE OVER)

• VOICE OVER

Exactly. Finding a cure for cancer will bankrupt the medical establishment. Just like ending war will bankrupt the military establishment. Excellent answer, Ally. I'm very impressed with you.

• ALLY

(bitterly) I also know our great President cut cancer research funding. President Halstrom looks away.

• VOICE OVER

How true. And how sick. Cut money to find cures, spend money to start wars. Right, Mr. President?

• PRESIDENT HALSTROM

It's not that simple.

• VOICE OVER

Oh, it's not that simple? What's complicated about what I just said?

• PRESIDENT HALSTROM

Try Senate committees, House leaders, political agendas, lobbyists, news media, military operatives...the list goes on.

• VOICE OVER

So politics is the cause of the world's problems?

• PRESIDENT HALSTROM

Yes, politics is the cause of the world's problems.

• VOICE OVER

Say it again, Mr. President.

• PRESIDENT HALSTROM

Politics-

• VOICE OVER

-I can't hear you. I want you to scream it out.

• PRESIDENT HALSTROM

(louder) Politics-

• VOICE OVER

-I CAN'T HEAR YOU!

• PRESIDENT HALSTROM

POLITICS IS THE CAUSE OF THE WORLD'S PROBLEMS!

Brian looks around the room. CLOCK: 2:30 a.m. Brian carefully puts on an earplug.

In The Hallway (THE GENIUS CLUB)

Brian takes out a stick of gum and pops it in his mouth. He looks down the empty corridor.

• BRIAN

(beat) 'The speculations of a philosopher are far removed from the judgment of the multitude, for his aim is seek truth in all things'

• JOSE

Copernicus.

• BRIAN

Right.

• JOSE

Are you going to answer the question?

• BRIAN

His name is Armand. He has the nation's second highest IQ, supposedly. He's been missing since 2002. He's the foremost expert in radioactive decay. For years he went under 'Armand Inrig' and other names until he was fired. (now looking at Jose) He has a lightning sharp mind. Worked for the Defense Department until he became persona non grata there, despite holding 34 patents. He finally developed a nuclear bomb sometime last year.

• JOSE

Why does he want us to solve the world's problems in one night?

• BRIAN

(impatiently) Because he knows we can't. He's gathered the greatest minds for one last intellectual bash to show how 'superior' he is to all of us.

• JOSE

He's using us as straw men then.

• BRIAN

Yeah.

Abandoned Warehouse

INT. ABANDONED WAREHOUSE - NIGHT INSERT FRAME: Armand's sweaty, distraught face.

• VOICE OVER

It's all lies. Am I the only one who sees this? Step into any supermarket and you're accosted with stupidity. Has anyone ever wondered why magazines feature the same celebrities at every single checkout counter? Why not a magazine about finding a cure for leukemia? Or a magazine about solving world hunger?

Push in on each of the genius's face.

• VOICE OVER (CONT'D)

It's all one big distraction. The media outlets are succeeding in distracting the entire human race with stories about some celebrity or baseball player - in other words the head is chasing the tail or don't you get it?

Brian sees his cell phone light up and answers it. SPLIT SCREEN between him and the FBI AGENT.

• FBI AGENT

Brian, the last safety mechanism has been deactivated. He's really going to blow up the city.

• BRIAN

Have you tried getting under the shield?

• FBI AGENT

Yes. He's got tamper-proof wiring all around it. God help us.

Brian hangs up and looks away.

• JOSE

Think back a few decades - terrorism hardly existed. It's a modern invention - terrorism has simply replaced war. We should call it 'transnational soldierism'.

• PRESIDENT HALSTROM

And all war is a meaningless waste of human life.

The scoreboard lights up.

Quotes from Stephen Baldwin, Tim Chey, et al

• Stephen Baldwin: I read the script and I was crazy about it. Most of the scripts coming out of Hollywood are pretty boring. They really don’t make you think. They don’t have purpose and meaning. This one had purpose and meaning. It wasn’t just about the topic—the God part of it—that a lot of movies don’t even mention. It was about viewing the different sides of issues like oil and gas, capitalism, communism. Those are issues most people aren’t talking about in movies right now. There’s no thought. This movie was very thought-provoking. I had to audition for it, but when I read the script I made a decision that said, “this is mine.
• Tim Chey: "The world is not getting any better - it's sick and in dire need of help. I wrote the script to kind of turn every issue upside down. The environment is claustophobic and, in the end, these character's lives and their destiny's change in the course of one night."
• Paula Jai Parker: 'I loved the monologue that she spoke. Because she is a scientist it had to make sense to her. For her to believe in what her grandmother and her grandmother’s grandmother believed, it had to make sense. That’s the same with me. I had to read the Bible for myself. I couldn’t let everyone tell me Jesus did this and that. It wasn’t enough for me to hear the stories. I had to go into the Bible and read it for myself from beginning to end, from Genesis to Revelation, I get the message, I feel the message and I think that relates to my character. She had to read it and investigate the possibilities and I think the monologue says it all. The reality is she couldn’t believe in God until it made sense to her, to her science. That’s how I am. I couldn’t believe what my mother said until I read it for myself. I became so intrigued with religion and Jesus and the knowledge that I gained from the Bible that I am currently reading the lost chapters of the Bible. The chapters that were taken out to make the Bible more politically correct. I want to know what is missing. We’re a lot alike in that regard.'
• Carol Abney: My character is clearly an atheist. Her religion is money. Personally, I don’t necessarily identify with that. I don’t follow one religious path, but I do respect it. I am not an atheist, but I’m also not a “label”. Intellectually I could identify, but not emotionally.

Cast of 'The Genius Club

• Carol Abney .... Julia Endersol
• Stephen Baldwin .... Rory Johnson
• Jacob Bonnema .... Jacob Chernov
• Tricia Helfer .... Ally Simon
• Matt Medrano .... Jose Delgado
• Philip Moon .... Professor Lee
• Paula Jai Parker .... Tatiana
• Huntley Ritter .... Brian Mehlman
• Jack Scalia .... President
• Tom Sizemore .... Armand

Ryan Scott Sutherland