From the human calculator that is Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man to the wicked-smart Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting, we've seen our fair share of on-screen genius' over the years.
The Theory Of Everything
After some very complicated calculations, we've come up with our own algorithm to find the greatest masterminds in film- from mathematicians to social media pioneers.
1. Rain Man
Based on real life savant Kim Peek, who could recall over 12,000 books on geography, history and literature in their entirety, Dustin Hoffman's Rain Man was never going to be anything short of a genius. Hoffman plays Raymond Babbitt, an autistic who, despite rarely showing emotion, has an impeccable memory- he can instantly count hundreds of objects at once and remember an entire phone book.
His performance won him an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role, overshadowing Tom Cruise's role as his brother, and proving that sometimes brains beat beauty.
2. Good Will Hunting
Algebraic graph theory might not mean much to most people, but to Will Hunting, played by Matt Damon, it was almost too easy. A janitor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he anonymously solves the difficult sums left on the board by one of the Professors before being discovered and taken on to study mathematics.
In one of the most iconic scenes in film, Hunting manages to outwit a Harvard student to win the number of a girl in a bar, before declaring 'How do you like them apples?' Thus proving that brains ultimately can get you the girl (of course, looking like Matt Damon helps).
3. A Beautiful Mind
Telling the story of Nobel Prize-winning Mathematician and Economist, John Forbes Nash, A Beautiful Mind looks at the battle between intellect and mental illness, as Nash suffers from schizophrenia and paranoia.
Taken on by the military to crack encrypted enemy codes, Nash soon realises he can decipher these mentally, much the astonishment of his colleagues. Like Rain Man, the film won big in the award stakes, taking home four Academy awards including Best Picture.
4. The Social Network
'You don't get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies,' reads the tagline for the film. Nor do you create the biggest social media site in the world without a stroke of genius. This biopic based on Mark Zuckerberg, creator of Facebook, tells the story of how a Harvard University student became the world's youngest billionaire, and the lawsuits he faced along the way.
Zuckerberg himself expressed his dissatisfaction with the film, claiming that most of the plot wasn't factual, but there's no denying the fact the film portrayed him as a forward-thinking intellect.
5. The Theory Of Everything
Just as his first book looks at the beginning of time itself, this story focusses on the beginning of both Stephen Hawking's marriage to Jane Wilde and his battle with motor neuron disease.
From his life as a student at Oxford, where he meets Jane at a party, to the revelation of his disease, to the publication of his book with the help of Jane, here we learn about the little-known early life of Stephen.
It takes a true genius to write The Theory of Everything, but the film also commends his wife Jane- who not only took care of him but helped him write and publish when his health deteriorated. The Theory of Everything is in UK cinemas on the 1st January 2015.
Universal Pictures and Working Title's upcoming release, The Theory Of Everything is in UK cinemas on New Year's Day.