AllMovie

One of two family-oriented television films that Gary Coleman made with co-star Robert Guillaume and director Leslie Martinson, The Kid With the 200 I.Q. is a simple-minded, lukewarm-hearted comedy that sidesteps any real emotions or issues in favor of bland sentiment. Coleman's youthful brainiac learns that his exceptional smarts won't replace a lack of confidence, maturity, or patience, and his story might have been useful. Unfortunately, Coleman's range of expression as an actor limits the role to a series of chipmunk grins and disappointed pouts, and attempted comedy bits based on the star's size are unfunny. Martinson's perfunctory direction turns potentially emotional scenes into greeting card drivel, and breezes past the briefly broached and quickly discarded topic of Coleman and Guillaume's race on the otherwise lily-white campus (the only other African-American in sight is the head janitor). Anyone who sits through The Kid With the 200 I.Q. won't be surprised to discover a happy ending after so much mush, though it is a mildly subversive pleasure to find a young Crispin Glover making a brief bit appearance right before the credits roll.