Flash of Genius

Saw the very first showing of this tonight at the Traverse City Film Festival. It was a good movie and Greg Kinnear was very good. The film felt too restricted and hyper focused on the primary movie subject, Bob Kearns. It could have been made better by infusing a bit of side-story from the conflicting characters points of view. Bob Kearns low point in the movie also seemed to happen abruptly with no run-in to the plot twist, so much so that I felt like I missed something. Lauren Graham offered a fine performance, as did Dermot Mulroney's limited screen time. Overall I liked the movie but felt more could have been done to fill some gaps.

You just got to hand it to Greg Kinnear. He has certainly put all of himself in every role he has undertaken. From the host of E Entertainment's 'Talk Soup', onto such film roles as 'Little Miss Sunshine','Auto Focus' & this fine film. Kinnear plays a downtrodden Joe Sixpack from the suburbs, with his wife & six children. Here he is an engineering professor who has re-invented the windshield wiper (or did he just upgrade it?), only to have his idea stolen by Ford Motors. After 12 years of struggle that includes a nervous breakdown & the melt down of his marriage, he finally has his day in court. Does he emerge the victorious? I won't kiss & tell. This is a quiet,understated little film that deserved far better than it got. Alan Alda also shines as his attorney that tries to go to bat for him. This is one of those films that (hopefully)will have a second chance when it gets released on DVD. Slapped a PG-13 by the MPAA for some salty language,a moment of sensuality & some rather erratic behavior,due to a nervous breakdown.

How many inventions that we use on day-to-day life are actually stolen ideas of some unsung individuals!!

Singer sewing machine, phone (yes nor Bell after all but Elisha Gray), radio, monopoly game, Jack Daniels, bulb and in our times, Facebook, google earth and more.... This is a story about one such stolen invention.. it is about a patent infringement by a mega-company Ford Motors. The patent was for a variable speed (blink) wiper or known as intermittent wiper.. it was originally invented by an university professor and an inventor Dr Robert Kearns. It was 1960s.. Americans back then viewed the major corporations as the epitome of Americanism not with cynicism and mistrust. Even though the first-half if the movie is kind of stock-still, but meritorious performance by Greg Kinnear does not leave you cold.. a true story that makes this movie an Olympian in the genre and a good watch ...

I cherish this movie; a lot of this is for personal reasons. The film is well done; Greg Kinnear really impressed me with this and little miss sunshine.

I am a sales guy who sells to big companies. I recently gave ford a free education in a service we offer, and it took so much evangalizing, repetition, re-explanation and hitting them over the head. I was astonished that a business this big didn't have smarter people.

Then, when we gave them our price and offer, they said "no thanks were going to build this in house rather than use you".........I felt a visceral connections to Bob Kearns.

Suddenly, Ford is an expert on this. I would talk to anyone who would listen, and I put my blood into helping them improve their business. I have a new opinion of the buying and technology that Ford uses to run its operations. One of the reasons they might be the "least screwed up" of the auto makers" is their soul-less way of getting companies on their knees, and then kicking them down when you cry "uncle" for them.

Sorry for blabbing. It just hurts to know we really wanted to help them , and help us make a buck in the process. And we were treated like dogs.

I, for one, strongly oppose any kind of plagiarism because nobody has the right to steal someone else's work and claim it to be theirs. 'Flash of Genius' tells the heartbreaking story of inventer Dr. Kearns. While windshield wipers may sound like a small thing that hardly many give consideration to (as Kearns's friends have told him), it's not a matter of the object at hand but the effort that went behind it and why should credit go to somebody else? I admire Kearns for putting up a fight and keeping up the battle for justice and even though it cost him his family, he fought to the end. I'm surprised as to how little recognition 'Flash of Genius' received considering that the story is extremely relevant even for today's world.

The director does a splendid job in telling this moving story. Greg Kinnear delivers a heartfelt lowkeyed performance which is among one of the best of his career. Unfortunately, he remains an underrated actor but I hope he keeps making the wise film choices and gets his due soon. Lauren Graham is wonderfully restrained and marvelous but she's risking getting typecast (she's played supportive wife in two other recent movies 'Evan Almighty' and 'Birds of America'). Dermot Mulroney too stands out as Privick.

Where the technical department is concerned, the director has used a lot of subtlety with the cinematography, soundtrack and visuals. It is only later that we realize what an important symbol rain is in this movie. The washed out colour adds to the tense, stressful and sad atmosphere. 'Flash of Genius' is definitely a worthy watch not only because it tells an engaging story but a very relevant one.