Whiz Kids
Dir: Tom Shepard and Tina DiFeliciantonio
Rating: 3.0/5.0
Shadow Distribution
80 Minutes
It’s no secret that the children of the United States lag behind most other developed nations in education. Hell, last year a survey revealed that only one in four high school kids in Oklahoma can name our first president. However, the documentary Whiz Kids does not dwell on just how dumb people in our country can be. Rather, Tom Shepard and Tina DiFeliciantonio’s film fetes some of the young geniuses that will hopefully someday improve our quality of living with their scientific discoveries.
However, the deceptively simple Whiz Kids does not only add more fuel to the ego fire that surrounds its three young subjects. As all three hurtle headlong towards the annual Science Talent Scout, hosted by Intel, and its massive money prize, Whiz Kids gives us the lives of these 17 year olds before the cold cynicism of adulthood teaches them that no, you cannot do anything you want in this world, no matter how just and noble. Call it a last gasp of optimism but all three learn before the film’s end that wanting something really bad and working your ass off for it doesn’t make it come true.
There is no explanation why the director chose to focus on these subjects: one Pakistani-American, one Ecuadorean-American (both from New York City) and one girl from West Virginia. Forty students are eventually nominated for the Intel award, each certainly with a compelling story and project. One thing that unites these three is the headstrong desire to prove to their parents that they have bought into the American Dream and pull not only themselves, but their families out of the shit hand they have been dealt.
By far the most compelling is Kelydra Welcker, the West Virginian who discovers a simple process to prevent Teflon from dumping carcinogens into her community’s river. The subjects, Ana Cisneros and Harmain Khan are less indelible. Ana’s work on plant competition earns her an internship at a college in Colorado where her parents tell her agog mentor that she must work on Saturdays and Sundays. Meanwhile, the smarmy Harmain is involved in dating fossilized crocodile teeth.
But underneath the proselytizing and scientific jargon, Whiz Kids mostly allows its protagonists be real teenagers, especially in an emotionally poignant scene where Kelydra learns she is one of Intel’s finalists. Ana learns the sting of defeat early when she is not accepted as a finalist to the Science Talent Scout and underneath his smug veneer, Harmain is just a scared kid who doesn’t want to be seen as a failure.
If there is a flaw to the film, it’s that we are not allowed to see any of these kids outside of the science context, as if they have no other interests, be it frivolous or sexual. But when compared to the aged, harrowed scientists who judge the competition, the fading precociousness and optimism that fills these students is refreshing and something Kelydra, Ana and Harmain are lucky to have harnessed in Whiz Kids, something they can look back on years later in their labs, sigh and then get back to work.
by David Harris
