TOP 5 Movie Nerds
1. Toby Radloff (Judah Friedlander)
American Splendor (2003)
The nerd’s nerd, Toby is the only character on this list who’s based on a real person. In his iconic moment, Radloff (brilliantly played by Judah Friedlander) explains to comic creator Harvey Pekar (Paul Giamatti) why he’s on a 260-mile odyssey to see Revenge of the Nerds. “I consider myself a nerd,” he proclaims, his hypnotic diction evoking Stephen Hawking.
2. Louis Tully (Rick Moranis)
Ghostbusters (1984)
Nerdhood’s platonic form: Those glasses, that whiney voice, that whimpering expression which suggests Stan Laurel crossed with the world’s most formless infant. He is so pathetic that trendy New Yorkers ignore him even when he’s being munched by a monster dog. And yet he’s transformed into a throbbing ‘Keymaster’ and has (it seems) his end away with Sigourney Weaver! We suppose that after you’ve been drooled over by Aliens, even Louis is a step up…
3. Randy Meeks (Jamie Kennedy)
Scream (1996)
Scream is the horror geek’s dream, where you die if you get the plot of Friday The 13th wrong or can’t remember the kill-count for the Candyman franchise. The nerd king is a snarky video-store clerk, Randy, who tells us the film’s meta-slasher rules.
4. Seymour Parrish (Robin Williams)
One Hour Photo (2002)
In Mark Romanek’s delicately terrifying drama, photo technician Seymour ‘Sy’ Parrish (played by Williams) plasters his apartment with pictures of an unknowing family. For most of the film we don’t know if Sy is a maniac, a paedophile or an obsessed parasite. His prey sees him as a funny mall-drone in a dull blue uniform; even a little boy senses that Sy has no friends. The voyeurism and a misplaced closing explanation take Sy into quasi-psycho territory, but the unsettling mood of longing and loneliness, expressed in Williams’ unbearably anodyne demeanour, are worth a thousand words.
5. Syndrome (Voiced by Jason Lee)
The Incredibles (2004)
When it comes to cartoon nerds, it’s a close call. Disney’s recent Bolt was stolen by Rhino, a hysterical hamster fanboy, but we’ll give the nod to the villainous Syndrome. He’s a hilarious portrait of a posturing super fan who “geeks out” over his adversary, Mr. Incredible. At the same time, his revenge on his idols is dark and twisted, like watchmen with Harry Knowles as the baddie.
