# movie question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 9, 2008, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-question/440693 "2008-03-09T05:19:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smith)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-question/440693/1 "2008-03-09T05:19:41Z")
This is an incredibly unfair request if you aren’t incredibly familiar with the film, but I figured I’d try anyways. There is a film I am looking for, but the only thing I can remember right now is one scene. I will try to be as detailed as possible, and if you decide to humor my request and need more info, I will do my best. There is a man that is in an isolation tank, elevated 3 or 4 feet, in a laboratory. He is screaming. Outside the tank, is a scientist and a man wearing a wristwatch talking. As they leave, the man screaming ends up with the wrist watch (brown leather strap, golden colored watch). The isolation tank kind of looks like a fish tank. There isn’t room to fully stand and there is a white mini-mattress beneath the man. I got the indication from the scene that the man in the tank was of college age, and signed up for the experiment for money or college credit. There is a shot of the man’s bear wrist, then a clock in the lab, and then the man explains that the screaming man just needed to be aware of time. I believe the scene establishes that time and awareness play into the plot, and that the man who slipped his wrist watch into the tank is intelligent and compassionate. You never actually see the man slip the watch into the tank. One minute he has the watch. The next minute the screaming man quietly clutches the watch, the show a shot of the watch owner’s bare wrist, a clock in the lab, and then the man gives his explanation. If you aren’t able to answer this question, I understand. It’ll just go to show that one can’t know everything. I believe this film came out in the early 2000’s or late 1990’s ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-question/440693/2 "2008-03-09T05:31:06Z")
Movie threads belong in Cafe Society, the forum for the Arts. I’ll move it. **samclem** Moderator in General Questions ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-question/440693/3 "2008-03-09T06:42:15Z")
Hey, I remember that! And nothing else from the show. Just that one scene - no context, nothing. Pretty pointless post perhaps… ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-question/440693/4 "2008-03-09T08:30:10Z")
I also remember it. I think it was a comedy, or if not, they played the scene for a laugh, even though the interloper had completely ruined the researcher’s experiment. Some guy was wandering around in a behavioral research lab. AAARRRGGGHHH! I can’t get it. I want to say “Patch Adams”, but maybe I just saw the movie within a few months of that one. ---
**Author:** ![Mumio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@Mumio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mumio)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-question/440693/5 "2008-03-09T18:11:33Z")
[QUOTE=smith] This is an incredibly unfair request if you aren’t incredibly familiar with the film, but I figured I’d try anyways. There is a film I am looking for, but the only thing I can remember right now is one scene. I will try to be as detailed as possible, and if you decide to humor my request and need more info, I will do my best. There is a man that is in an isolation tank, elevated 3 or 4 feet, in a laboratory. He is screaming. Outside the tank, is a scientist and a man wearing a wristwatch talking. As they leave, the man screaming ends up with the wrist watch (brown leather strap, golden colored watch). The isolation tank kind of looks like a fish tank. There isn’t room to fully stand and there is a white mini-mattress beneath the man. I got the indication from the scene that the man in the tank was of college age, and signed up for the experiment for money or college credit. There is a shot of the man’s bear wrist, then a clock in the lab, and then the man explains that the screaming man just needed to be aware of time. I believe the scene establishes that time and awareness play into the plot, and that the man who slipped his wrist watch into the tank is intelligent and compassionate. You never actually see the man slip the watch into the tank. One minute he has the watch. The next minute the screaming man quietly clutches the watch, the show a shot of the watch owner’s bare wrist, a clock in the lab, and then the man gives his explanation. If you aren’t able to answer this question, I understand. It’ll just go to show that one can’t know everything. I believe this film came out in the early 2000’s or late 1990’s [/QUOTE] could that be the movie you are thinking of? ---
**Author:** ![smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smith)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-question/440693/6 "2008-03-09T18:30:46Z")
[QUOTE=Mumio] could that be the movie you are thinking of? [/QUOTE] No, I know it’s not Altered States. It might be patch adams, but I don’t have a copy of it right now so I can’t say for sure, but the person who said it was patch adams has seen this movie, too because he described exactly what I remember. For those who have responded to this thread, thank you very much! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-question/440693/7 "2008-03-09T19:17:11Z")
I’m damn near certain it’s a romantic comedy called IQ, starring Meg Ryan, Tim Robbins, and Walter Mathau. Mathau plays Albert Einstein, who manages to hook up his brilliant, uptight neice (played by Ryan), with Robbins, the unlikely suitor. Robbins is the man with the watch, and he is accompanying Einstein (Mathau) when he encounters the man in the isolation chamber. I think the scene is designed to show that Robbins is a decent guy, and helps explain why Einstein subtley decides to steer his neice towards him (and away from the snooty prick she is involved with). ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-question/440693/8 "2008-03-09T19:27:11Z")
[QUOTE=Atomicktom] I’m damn near certain it’s a romantic comedy called IQ, starring Meg Ryan, Tim Robbins, and Walter Mathau. Mathau plays Albert Einstein, who manages to hook up his brilliant, uptight neice (played by Ryan), with Robbins, the unlikely suitor. Robbins is the man with the watch, and he is accompanying Einstein (Mathau) when he encounters the man in the isolation chamber. I think the scene is designed to show that Robbins is a decent guy, and helps explain why Einstein subtley decides to steer his neice towards him (and away from the snooty prick she is involved with). [/QUOTE] I think **Atomicktom** has got it. As I recall, when it is noticed that Robbins’s watch isn’t on his wrist, Robbins says something like “Since time doesn’t exist, who needs a watch?” ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-question/440693/9 "2008-03-09T19:31:17Z")
[QUOTE=pinkfreud] As I recall, when it is noticed that Robbins’s watch isn’t on his wrist, Robbins says something like “Since time doesn’t exist, who needs a watch?” [/QUOTE] Nothing like a little theoretical physics humor to make a scene stick in your mind! ---
**Author:** ![smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smith)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2008, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-question/440693/10 "2008-03-10T01:07:28Z")
I plan on following all these leads. Thanks for all your help. 🆒