young einstein is embarrassingly lame , but that did n't stop it from becoming a phenomenon in australia , where it became the third largest box office hit of all time .
in the u . s .
, warner brothers is hoping the movie will follow in the footsteps of paul hogan , inxs , and shrimp on the barby to become the latest rage from down under .
personally , i 'm hoping americans everywhere will rise to the occasion and make young einstein a box office bomb .
young einstein sprang from the twisted mind of yahoo serious , who not only wrote , produced , edited , and directed the film , but also starred and did his own stunts .
his creation is about as stupid and contrived as you 'd expect from someone named yahoo .
the movie takes substantial historical liberties in recreating einstein 's youth .
whereas the scientist actually hailed from germany , the film finds him still living with his parents on tasmania , a remote australian island .
in addition to deriving the formula for energy and the theory of relativity , albert invents surfing , bubbles in beer , and the electric guitar .
yahoo plays einstein as a naive and unrefined country hick -- a clown with an insatiable curiosity .
although yahoo 's performance is at first endearing ,
the one - dimensional characterization loses its novelty faster than you can say e
= mc2 .
yahoo has created a charming family for albert , and the scenes on tasmania are often clever .
but after the first twenty minutes , the movie quickly plummets and degenerates into a poor excuse for a comedy .
young einstein is hampered by its lethargic pace and inane plot .
yahoo must be an mtv addict because his movie features an omnipresent soundtrack ; unfortunately ,
the music is altogether gratuitous and quickly becomes overbearing .
almost every other scene includes a blaring rock song that leaves you wondering whether you are watching a movie or a music video .
the instrumental score , on the other hand , is generally playful ; yahoo uses such classics as the " 1812 overture " and the theme from the good , the bad and the ugly to great comic effect .
halfway through young einstein , i knew for sure the movie was a stinker .
but it was n't until the very end that i finally put my finger on why
: the comedy takes its roots not from whimsical film fantasies ( such as young sherlock holmes ) but from cheesy prime - time sitcoms .
in fact , young einstein might have been more at home on network television , where its sophomoric humor would n't raise any eyebrows .
i knew for sure the movie was a stinker the music is altogether gratuitous and quickly becomes overbearing the movie quickly plummets and degenerates into a poor excuse for a comedy the one - dimensional characterization loses its novelty sophomoric humor hampered by its lethargic pace and inane plot as stupid and contrived as you 'd expect embarrassingly lame cheesy prime - time sitcoms