Flash of Genius

It was great to see Greg Kinnear in another flawless performance; here as Dr. Bob Kearns, inventor and professor. To me, I think of Mr. Kinnear as sort of the cocker spaniel of American actors. Perfectly companionable for just about everyone. He just feels right in so many roles it's hard to imagine anyone else having done them. This is another instance of his having added immeasurably to what may have otherwise been a more uninteresting character. After all, it's hard to imagine anyone making an engineer or professor seem interesting; but in this outing Kinnear certainly accomplishes that.

Adding her own note of quiet grace and perfect screen presence, Lauren Graham as Phyllis Kearns gives her character both charm and great heart, not to mention that she looks better in a plain white nightgown that just about anyone I've seen... well, except for my wife, of course.

There are other great performances here too, like Mitch Pileggi as the bad guy from any corporation in America, Tim Kelleher as his greasier side-kick and Dermot Mulroney as a slightly smarmy friend of Kearnes'. Likewise the hoard of young actors playing the Kearns children added a perfect familial note to the vehicle.

But, more than any of these fine people, the focal point here was the story as it always is in these social consciousness melodramas. Yes, Virginia. The wheels of American industry is greased with the bones of the cheated and betrayed genius of America. That is so universally true it's a well known sub-plot to all of America's engineers and manufacturers. What is also well known is what happens when they try to find justice, let alone an iota of truth; which is so accurately and skillfully portrayed in this film.

Speaking as an engineer who has worked in American industry for over 40 years, I can say that I have seen this more times than I can count. It goes on every day right here under your noses, America, and no one ever does a thing to change the way America fails to protect her fragile genius. That is deliberately so. That is so because the laws America uses to define how these things are handled are made by lawyers, for lawyers. It would cease to be profitable if the laws were crafted to actually protect it's most precious resource - it's creative people. But it's not; the laws are instead crafted to provide fat and frequent paychecks to every leach that slithers through the "halls of justice".

Just as Kearns did, I had to learn the hard way that justice in America belongs only to those with a fat enough wallet to buy it through the local outlet. If you don't have the six figures to hire a lawyer then you have no rights and no freedom in this country. Like a Wildebeest grazing blissfully in the middle of the herd, you have only not been awakened to that fact yet because no one has yet decided to attack you, or steal from you.

This has been the long way around to tell you that the creators of the film got it exactly right, with one serious flaw... for every Bob Kearns who has eviscerated themselves to win a Pyrrhic victory of the sort we witness here, there have been thousands who have given up for being too shallow in pocket or too short of mental fortitude or too short of the desire for self-flagellation required to press through to an empty, moral victory.

And even here, we see unmistakably that this "victory" costs Kearns what he valued most in his life. He didn't even live to see himself depicted as "heroic" in this fine film.

Still, thank you Bob, wherever you are.

Time after time, Anerican audiences have stood witness to the fact Inventors have created and continue to create some of the most important breakthroughs in history. As a result, America has become the Land of Opportunity for any young inventor to make his mark in history. However, there are those in high position who believe they are so powerful, they can reach out and steal anything they want with total impunity. This movie is a case in point. The worthy film is called a " Flash of Genius. " It is essentially the story of Bob Kearns (Greg Kinnear) a college professor who in a moment of inspiration, invents a wind shield wiper with an oscillating program. A top executive of the Ford Motor company ( Mitch Pileggi) tries to plays the professor for a fool and disregarding the little man, steals his patents. Though it will take money, time, effort and patience to fight the industrial giant, Kearns risks all to fight for what he believes is the right thing to do. Alan Alda plays a wimp of a lawyer and tries to convince Kearns to take a tiny settlement and give up the fight. Despite the risk of losing his wife, his family and even his sanity, Kearns is determined and creates a wonderful David vs Goliath story. Highly recommended to anyone who believe in fighting with the best weapon of all; the truth. ****

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.

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.

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.