MOVIE REVIEW: Flash of Genius
© A.J. Malouin 2008
(Rating: 14 by Caryl, and a pass by The Film Snob.)
(See our side-bar page “How Caryl & Al and The Film Snob Rate Movies”)
(2008/USA. Directed by Marc Abraham.)
Caryl reports going to see this movie because she thought it would be relevant to the auto industry that is important to her hometown.
She came away, however, calling the movie slow-moving and *boring*!
“Flash of Genius” tells the story of Bob Kearns, who invented the intermittent automobile windshield wiper, but had his invention stolen, apparently, by the Ford Motor Company.
Kearns went to court to achieve recognition for his invention.
When Kearns went to court, he was not looking for money, although there was large amount of it available to him if he abandoned his case. When Kearns turned down that settlement money, his lawyer (played by Alan Alda) abandoned him.
Kearns fought on alone. In the battle, he lost his wife and suffered a sort of nervous breakdown.
His children stood by him, however, even when it began to look as if Kearns was becoming totally unbalanced.
Caryl reports the Greg Kinnear did a credible job of playing the totally laid-back Kearns, who goes to pieces trying to gain recognition for his invention.
She also reports, however, that the movie was just plain *boring*.
(1 hr 59. Rated “PG-13” in the USA for brief strong language. In English. With
Jake Abel as Dennis Kearns, Alan Alda as Gregory Lawson, Grant Boyle as Patrick Kearns, Andrew Gillies as Paul Previck, Lauren Graham as Phyllis Kearns, Tim Kelleher as Charlie Defao, Greg Kinnear as Bob Kearns, Chuck Shamata as Professor Irwin, and Bill Smitrovich as Judge Michael Franks.)