The Manhattan Project: Difference between revisions

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{{quote| '''Dr. Mathewson''': "Gentleman, we've got a little...wrinkle here."}}

* [[Child Prodigy]]: A teenage boy is smart enough to break into a top secret nuclear production facility, steals plutonium and builds an atomic bomb.

* [[Chekhov's Gun|Chekhov's]] [[Frickin Laser Beams|Frickin' Laser Beam]]: The Medatomics lab uses one to purify plutonium. Dr. Mathewson uses it to impress Paul by having it cut through a steel plate. Later, Paul uses it to cut a small hole in the wall to help him smuggle out the plutonium.

* [[Chekhov's Gun|Chekhov's]] [[Frickin' Laser Beams|Frickin' Laser Beam]]: The Medatomics lab uses one to purify plutonium. Dr. Mathewson uses it to impress Paul by having it cut through a steel plate. Later, Paul uses it to cut a small hole in the wall to help him smuggle out the plutonium.

* [[Couldn't Find a Lighter]]: John Lithgow lights a cigar with a laser that is strong enough to cut through steel and concrete.

* [[Dawson Casting]]: Averted here. Most of the high school students we see are old enough to drive and are taking physics, which implies that they are probably at least 16 years old. Pretty much every actor in the film who plays a high school student (including Christopher Collett and Cynthia Nixon) was under 20 years old at the time of filming.

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* [[Insufferable Genius]]: Paul could very well be the posterchild for this.

* [[Intrepid Reporter]]: Jenny is a would-be one. She's writing a story on Paul's building of the atomic bomb and wants to send it to ''Rolling Stone'' for publication.

* [[It Was Here I Swear]]: The atomic bomb in the trunk of the car.

* [[It Was Here, I Swear]]: The atomic bomb in the trunk of the car.

* [[Ivy League]]: The film is set in Ithaca, New York, the home of Cornell University. Although the school is never shown in the film, Paul mentions that his father used to be a professor of architecture there.

* [[Keeping Secrets Sucks]]: By the end of the film, {{spoiler|Dr. Mathewson has come around to this point of view, and plans to publish his work on purifying plutonium.}}

* [[No Name Given]] / [[Who Is This Guy Again]]: Actor [[Six Feet Under|Richard Jenkins]] receives billing only as "Radiation Controls Officer - Medatomic Labs". The character actually does have a name: Miles Wilson. Each part of his name, however, is only said once, and even then said in different parts of the movie. He is never actually referred to in the film as "the Radiation Controls Officer".

* [[No Name Given]] / [[Who Is This Guy Again?]]: Actor [[Six Feet Under|Richard Jenkins]] receives billing only as "Radiation Controls Officer - Medatomic Labs". The character actually does have a name: Miles Wilson. Each part of his name, however, is only said once, and even then said in different parts of the movie. He is never actually referred to in the film as "the Radiation Controls Officer".

* [[Not So Different]]: Dr. Mathewson's actions toward Paul implies that the boy reminds him a lot of himself when he was younger.

* [[Oedipus Complex]]: There are a few jokes about this between Paul and his mother. Jenny even suggests this as Paul's motivation to be distrustful of Mathewson.

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*** When Paul figures out that Dr. Mathewson helps build nuclear weapons, he starts referring to the scientist as "[[Dr. Strangelove (Film)|Dr. Strangelove]]" behind his back.

* [[Spiritual Successor]]: Arguably to [[War Games]].

* [[Tailor Made Prison]]: Invoked by Mathewson as the potential consequences of Paul's pet project.

* [[Tailor-Made Prison]]: Invoked by Mathewson as the potential consequences of Paul's pet project.

{{quote| '''Mathewson''': They don't care how old you are, how cute you are. They're gorillas; they can ''hurt'' you. Don't you get it? You try to tough it out with them, they'll lock you in a room somewhere and ''throw away the room.''}}

* [[Teachers Pet]]: Roland, which is presumably why Paul makes him the [[Butt Monkey]] of the nitrogen triiodide prank.

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* [[Time Bomb]]: Paul's atomic bomb has a digital timer.

* [[Too Clever By Half]]: Both Paul and Mathewson are guilty of this. Paul for building a nuke without thinking too deeply about the consequences of his project, and Mathewson for being too busy being proud of his plutonium production process to think of the wider ramifications of his work.

* [[Truth Serum]]: The military administers some to Paul to "help him remember" after the [[It Was Here I Swear]] incident.

* [[Truth Serum]]: The military administers some to Paul to "help him remember" after the [[It Was Here, I Swear]] incident.

* [[Wire Dilemma]]: Dr. Mathewson decides that the best option is to cut all six wires simultaneously.