Review: ‘Flash of Genius’

Zac:

Flash of Genius is a serious drama about the true life struggles of Bob Kearns who had to fight the major motor companies for vindication on his creation, and the results are a solid offering, even though it might be a bit of heavy material.

Bob Kearns (Greg Kinnear) is an engineering professor who was always coming up with something.   For as long as he could remember he was always creating useful ways to improve things and make things work better, so one day when he noticed a problem with his windshield wipers, he sought out something to do about it.   What he created was the later to be named intermittent wiper that we all know and love today and he began on the process to sell it too the major motor companies in his home town of Detroit.

Partnering with his friend Gil Privik (Dermot Mulroney) Bob sets out to produce and sell all intermittent wipers to the major car companies and live out his new found dream he has always been looking for.   Unfortunately, the road does not go as planned and Ford backs out of the deal, only to find Bob’s model in use six months later on the new line up of Ford vehicles.   Bob quickly falls into a tail spin as he tries to earn his due and it has an effect on his personal, work, and family life in turn.

Bob’s struggles for credit are the focus of the picture and it is a passionate fight that he ends up having to try to take all the way to court.   Greg Kinnear does a fantastic job of capturing Kearns and all of his subtleties, and I imagine he nailed the way this man was.   Though outside Kinnear there isn’t a lot for the rest of the cast to do, it’s all kind of Kinnear’s show.   But that isn’t a horrible thing at all, as he is great, but Dermot Mulroney is able to shine in his work and Lauren Graham does a fair job as Kearns wife.   The child actors also do admirable jobs as the Kearns family and Alan Alda is great as Bob’s pro bono attorney; though he is just basically a nice version of his Aviator character.

The thing that holds this film back though is the heavy mood over all the proceedings.   And I understand the material is rough and a hard row, but they could have done a better job of injecting some humor here or there or do a better job of not dragging out the miserable times of this man’s life as long as they did.   Thankfully, when the film hits it’s final act, it is running at its best, and does a great job of finishing strong in the end; which a lot of movies can’t really say nowadays.

In the end, Flash of Genius is a solid drama that tells a great little story of the little guy fighting for what is his.   The material seems a bit stretched for a feature, but the editing and pacing mis-steps that pop up might be to blame for that.   Greg Kinnear is great and deserves any and all the praise he will get for this and easily carries this film on his shoulders.   If your looking for a great little untold story, and don’t need a film with a ton of pick-me ups, this is an enjoyable endeavor.

[rating:3.5/5]

Ram Man:

Greg kinneear is developing into a fine actor. Coming off a great performance in Little Miss Sunshine and a disturbing Bob Crane in Auto Focus, Kinnear takes up the fight   of the little guy in “Flash of Genius”  . Flash of Genius isbased on a true story  about a little automotive item that many of us now take for granted …the intermittent windshield wiper.

Kinnear plays electrical engineer Dr. Robert Kearns. One rainy Sunday, on their way home from church, Bob is struck with the idea of slowing down the wipers on thew car only to wipe when needed. He attributes it to the human eyelid it closes only when the eye needs it to.   Kearns grabs some parts and the wiper assembly from his car and over the next few weeks developed a prototype windshield wiper called the Kearn’s Blinking Eye Wiper. He then tells the family they are going into business and will produce the wiper motors and sell them to all the automotive manufacturers. He gets together with longtime friend and car dealer Gil Previck (Dermot Mulroney) who financially backs Kearns, obtains the patents for the invention and sets up the meet with Ford Motor company.

After a little mishap with a blown fuse , the blinking eye wiper astounds the research and development team at Ford. A College Professor comes up with they very thing Ford has been trying to build for 2 years in a matter of weeks. Pivick and Kearns sit down with Ford and strike a deal, verbally, but they need approval from Washington since the part is a safety device. Kearns supplies a working model and all of his research to Ford who mysteriously withdraws from the agreement with Kearns with out any reason. Weeks later as the Car Giant unveils the new Mustang, Kearns notices and brand new feature..the intermittent wiper!  

This sends Kearns into orbit..he wants justice. His invention was stolen by Ford and now he has lost everything. Bob loses everything in his search for justice, his job, his family and his mind as he has a nervous breakdown. Bob Kearns continues his “David vs. Goliath” fight against Detroit Giant Ford. Ford in an attempt to keep it out of the newspapers offers millions to Kearns, but he just wants the truth to be known…He was the one who invented the wiper. The film concludes in a stunning courtroom debate between Bob (Representing himself) and the lawyers from Ford. The performance by Kinnear in the courtroom is “a cherry on top of this sundae” in the finely done film. Running time is about 2 hours but the story will have you captivated on what Kearns must go through just to see that justice is done. There are a lot of performances this year that will merit a mention during the award season, but failure to have Kinnear in there will be a huge mistake.

[rating: 4/5]