Bickford Shmeckler's Cool Ideas (2006)

When his journal of bright ideas is stolen, college freshman Bickford Schmeckler (Fugit) has to blanket the campus in order to locate it.

Director:

Scott Lew

Writer:

Scott Lew

Stars:

Patrick Fugit, Olivia Wilde, Deon Richmond

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Patrick Fugit	...	Bickford Shmeckler
Olivia Wilde	...	Sarah Witt
Deon Richmond	...	Red
Tyler Francavilla	...	PJ
Nick Corirossi	...	Partier who wants to dance
Chris Weitz	...	Sheldon Schmeckler (voice)
Allison Weintraub	...	Party Girl
Fran Kranz	...	Ralph
J.D. Walsh	...	Fred
Gary Lundy	...	Mellow Guy
Reid Scott	...	Trent
Genevieve Padalecki	...	Toga Hussy (as Jennifer Cortese)
Danny Kanamori	...	Drunk Jock
Robert Ben Garant	...	Campus Cop
Thomas Lennon	...	Campus Cop

Storyline

When his journal of bright ideas is stolen, college freshman Bickford Schmeckler (Fugit) has to blanket the campus in order to locate it.

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Plot Keywords:

college campus | orgasm | fraternity | college student | toga party | 

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Taglines:

First she stole his theories. Then his heart.

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 May 2008 (South Korea)

Also Known As:

Cool Ideas

Filming Locations:

College of the Canyons - 26455 Rockwell Canyon Road, Santa Clarita, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Depth of Field,Pillar Squared,Piller Squared/The Segan Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

79 min (European Film Market)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Scott Lew: the guy in the automated wheelchair that beeps at Bickford as he is standing outside the College Services building.

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Goofs

As the camera pans along Trent's car as he reads The Book, a man with glasses appears in the reflection of the car.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Title Card: Nothing can ever be truly, fully understood. Not even the simplest thing. Not even this. - Bicford Shmeckler

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Connections

Referenced in Living with Lew (2007)

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Soundtracks

Posed to Death
Written by Todd Fink, Dapose, Clark Baechle, Jacob Thiele, and Joel Peterson
Performed by The Faint
Courtesy of Saddle Creek

User Reviews

This movie may be based on a cool idea, but it needed to be developed a lot more.

"You killed her? No! How?! With a butcher's knife?!"

Disaffected college student Bickford Shmeckler (Patrick Fugit) has filled a book with his cool and revolutionary ideas about reality. One night at a party, beautiful kleptomaniac Sarah (Olivia Wilde) stumbles into his room, and makes off with his book of ideas. Over the next few days, Bickford frantically tries to track the book back down, while reading it has a huge affect on the lives of Sarah, an entire Dungeons and Dragons club, a horny cosmology professor, and a group of homeless nuts led by a man named Spaceman. Yes, the movie really is that random. The most random and peculiar indie comedy that I've seen in a while.   

As you can tell from the description, this is a pretty weird movie. It's low-budget, for sure. Lots of obscure tunes from college radio on the soundtrack, and lots of "alternative" humor. I found the attempts at humor to be more bemusing, than anything else. I only recall laughing out loud once (thanks to a few cameos from Reno 911! and a rape joke that came out of nowhere). If the idea of a book giving women brain orgasms sounds funny to you, then you'll be right at home, here. 

I don't really think I can recommend that anyone who's not a massive Olivia Wilde or Patrick Fugit fan go out of their way to catch this one. The movie takes a turn for the dramatic at the end that doesn't fit well with anything that came before, and the entire script just seems like it could have used a lot more development.