The Manhattan Project (film)

The Manhattan Project is an American film, released in 1986. Named after the World War II-era program that constructed the first atomic bombs, the plot revolves around a gifted high school student who decides to construct an atomic bomb for a national science fair. It was directed by Marshall Brickman, based upon his screenplay co-written with Thomas Baum, and starred John Lithgow, Christopher Collet, John Mahoney, Jill Eikenberry and Cynthia Nixon. This was the first production from short-lived Gladden Entertainment.

Plot

Dr. John Mathewson (John Lithgow) discovers a new process for refining plutonium to purities greater than 99.997 percent. The United States government provides him a laboratory located in Ithaca, New York, masked as a medical company. Mathewson moves to Ithaca and meets real estate agent Elizabeth Stephens (Jill Eikenberry) while searching for an apartment. He attempts to win the affections of the single mother by inviting her teenage son Paul (Christopher Collet) to take a tour of the lab.

Mathewson is confident in the lab's cover story but Paul, an unusually gifted student with a passion for science, becomes suspicious when he discovers a statistically impossible patch of five-leaf clover on the grounds. Paul and his aspiring journalist girlfriend, Jenny Anderman (Cynthia Nixon), decide to expose the weapons factory in dramatic fashion. Paul breaks into the lab and steals a container of plutonium. To obtain maximum publicity, Paul decides to build an atomic bomb and enter it into the New York Science Fair. After convincing his mother and his school that his project is about hamsters bred in darkness, he begins research and construction of the nuclear device.

The lab discovers that a container of plutonium has been replaced by a bottle of shampoo mixed with glitter. A military investigation team, led by Lt. Colonel Conroy (John Mahoney), arrives on the scene and their investigation reveals that Paul is responsible for stealing the plutonium. Suspecting him of terrorism, the investigators search Paul's home and discover that he and Jenny have left for the science fair.

The agents capture the couple in New York City and Mathewson, who feels personally responsible for the crisis, has a private talk with Paul. He convinces Paul to just give the bomb to the agents before a group of other participants at the science fair help Paul and Jenny escape from the hotel.

In an effort to expose the lab, Paul hatches a plan to return the bomb on his own terms. Ensuring Jenny is a safe distance away, he calls the agents from a pay phone and walks into the lab with the bomb, while being surrounded by snipers and agents. During the standoff, negotiations stall and Paul arms the bomb. Mathewson, convinced that Paul is not an actual terrorist, attempts to intercede on his behalf.

Due to radiation from the plutonium, the bomb's timer suddenly activates on its own and begins to count down with increasing speed. Paul suggests taking the bomb to a quarry outside of the town, but Mathewson advises against it, telling Paul that the bomb is much more powerful than he believed. Desperate to defuse the bomb, all sides put down their weapons and frantically work as a team to dismantle it. They manage to disarm the bomb before it explodes. After a brief moment of relief, Conroy decides to arrest Paul. Mathewson refuses to cooperate and opens the door to the lab, revealing a large crowd, including Jenny and the press. The film ends as Mathewson, Paul, Jenny and Elizabeth all depart the scene.

Cast

• John Lithgow as John Mathewson
• Christopher Collet as Paul Stephens
• John Mahoney as Lt. Col. Conroy
• Jill Eikenberry as Elizabeth Stephens
• Cynthia Nixon as Jenny Anderman
• Robert Sean Leonard as Max (as Robert Leonard)
• Richard Jenkins as Radiation Controls Officer
• Gregg Edelman as Science Teacher

Influences

The plot was likely influenced by the case of John Aristotle Phillips, a Princeton University undergraduate, who came to prominence in 1977 as the "A-Bomb Kid" for designing a nuclear weapon in a term paper using publicly available books and articles.

Production

$13 million of the budget - the actual cost of making the movie - was provided by Thorn-EMI Screen Entertainment. The rest of the budget consisted of consultancy fees for Gladden.

The Manhattan Project was filmed in and around Rockland County, New York. Locations included Suffern High School, King's Daughters Library in Haverstraw and the Orchards of Conklin in Pomona. The producers held an actual science fair at the New York Penta Hotel in which participants received $75, and utilized the set for filming. The film's director and screenplay co-writer Marshall Brickman had established his career as a co-writer on several Woody Allen films. The Manhattan Project was his third film as director, following the comedies Simon (1980) and Lovesick (1983).

Release

The film earned $2 million in film rentals to theaters in the United States during its first year of release.

Brickman received the President's Award from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films for The Manhattan Project. Brickman would not direct again until the 2001 Showtime television movie Sister Mary Explains It All. In the role of Jenny, Cynthia Nixon was nominated for the Young Artist Award in the category of Exceptional Performance by a Young Actress, Supporting Role.

External links

• The Manhattan Project at IMDb
• The Manhattan Project at AllMovie
• The Manhattan Project at the TCM Movie Database
• Roger Ebert review, The Manhattan Project
• DVD Talk review by David Cornelius