Flash of Genius

This is another true David & Goliath story which pits a home inventor, Bob Kearns, who develops a working intermittent windshield wiper control, against the Ford Motor Company who stole his idea after he demonstrated it to them. The strain is at times too much for Kearns who eventually suffers a mental breakdown, but comes back to take on Ford in a monumental lawsuit despite the strains on his marriage & family.

While a lot of people probably won't be interested in true life stories like this, I enjoy them and did enjoy this movie. The acting is good, and since the story is set in the 1960's & 1970's, you really get a feel for that era. It's worth a watch.

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.

OK, so, on paper you must confess that any film that dramatises anything involving windscreen-wipers runs the risk of being pretty darn dull. But then at the same time maybe it is one of those films that sounds dull but is actually thrilling by way of drawing the viewer into the subject. When you thing about it, ignoring the part of the car that it involves, this story of the little man put down by a heartless corporation is pretty well timed with the strength of feeling towards our economic ruling class nowadays. So maybe Flash of Genius could ride that wave and deliver an impacting and uplifting story of overcoming at the same time – full of tension and emotion. Well, yes, I guess it "could" but the question is "does it?"

Unfortunately the answer to that is "no" and at best the film could be described as "solid". Contrary to my preconception the film is not dull because of the subject or because it gives lots of detail on engineering but rather because it seems to drag everything out and offer the viewer very little reason to care. It doesn't appear to focus on forward motion because if there is an opportunity to go over old ground or get into a rut then you best believe that it takes it. It is not a grind though, don't get me wrong, it is not a bad film, but just one that seems happy to do very little other than the basics. The courtroom scenes are where it should have come to life but even these fail to thrill or engage – OK they are there and they are "fine" for what they are but how am I the viewer supposed to be excited by what I am watching if the film itself seems all very underwhelmed by it.

I won't say that the cast are the problem but they are certainly part of it. Kinnear tries to deliver the character with real emotion in a way that will draw sympathy from the audience but his drab performance and repetitive delivery is part of the film being slowed down and not allowed to fizz. Graham doesn't help because she is part of this aspect of his character. In fairness she is quite lively and real but she cannot lift the film when the rest of it seems so intent on being average and sluggish. Alda turns up to offer the viewer hope as he enters the film with his custom delivery and energy, having several good scenes before disappearing again. Pileggi is a good solid "baddie" in the corporate sense and perhaps it would have helped to have allowed him more room to play with his character. Sadly none of the cast really gets to do this other than Kinnear, who has to take his scenes down into "despair" in a way that deadens the film and robs it of pace. Perhaps this is an accurate telling of the story but in this case it comes at a price and that price is the film's effectiveness and entertainment value.

This leaves Flash of Genius as a film that is far too worthy for its own good. It plays like a solid TVM and it certainly offered me nothing to justify why it was in the cinema with me when at best it was a DVD release. It has little in the way of drama or tension to it and it is hard to emotionally buy into the film in the way I needed to be able to in order to stick with it. If "solid" is what you are after then this is an OK film but the only remarkable thing about it is just how unremarkable, sluggish and frankly dull the whole thing is.

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, 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.