Toby Radloff is a genuine nerd and very proud of this fact. This documentary follows the nerdy Radloff on a trip to White Castle, takes us on a tour of his home, and shows his work in independent films such as Killer Nerd and Townies. Radloff is interviewed about subjects such as growing up a nerd and detailing the history of the “Nerd Mobile”. Comic book writer, Harvey Pekar, and actor, Judah Friedlander, are on hand to talk about their experiences meeting and working with Radloff.

Genuine Nerd is a truly painful documentary to watch and a missed opportunity for the director, Wayne Alan Harold (Girlfriends, Killer Nerd), who manages to capture very little about Toby Radloff. Genuine Nerd is a rushed affair amounting to little more than a collection of mundane moments haphazardly thrown together for a feature which runs entirely too long (even at only 71 minutes). Very little of Radloff’s supposed obsession with pop culture and music is explored and there aren’t nearly enough recollections about his life before filming the Killer Nerd films. Also, the clips of Killer Nerd and Townies run too long betraying their inclusion as mere padding.

Despite the failure of the documentary, Toby Radloff seems like an interesting yet very eccentric character. Highlights of the film include a diatribe on White Castle hamburgers (pronounced “amburgursss”) and stories from high school where Toby was picked on by kids who called him “drug pusher” (?) because of his propensity to wear leisure suits to school. Appearances by Harvey Pekar and Judah Friedlander provide some entertaining moments and provide insight into Radloff that the documentary misses completely.

Obviously cashing in on the success of American Splendor, Genuine Nerd is something of a lost cause. I can only imagine that there was a limited amount of time for this project to be completed and it really hurts the overall product. A low budget is really no excuse for such a lackluster biography. Either Toby Radloff was unwilling to expound on more personal details or elaborate on anything more intriguing than White Castle hamburgers ("amburgursss"). Far from a complete portrait of its subject, this film will not have a happy place on the shelf next to Crumb and American Splendor (where it should belong). Genuine Nerd has too much geek, dork, and dweeb but not nearly enough nerd for my taste.

DVD Specs:

The Genuine Nerd DVD looks good in its full frame presentation and the audio is very clear as well. Much of the footage is clear DV with some occasional black and white sections. Special features include some skippable deleted scenes, Tempe Video trailers, clips of Toby Radloff from his website, and some DVD-Rom extras.