Film Review – Bad Genius

Co-writer/director J.C. Lee makes his debut with “Bad Genius,” which shares a story about a grand plan for test cheating organized by a handful of students caught between their own vision for a future and tough parental expectations. It’s not handed the solemn treatment, getting into the desperation required to pull off such a scheme and how such troublemaking is processed along the journey. Lee and co-writer Julius Onah try to turn the story into a heist thriller, giving the material an “Ocean’s Eleven” spin as the characters deal with near-misses and high pressure, even indulging in a few chases along the way. “Bad Genius” is far from perfect, and Lee doesn’t exactly know how to get out of the feature smoothly, but he has a sharp lead in Callina Liang, who delivers a fascinating take on desperation and academic authority, carrying the picture through some iffy turns of plot. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com