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List Price: $19.98 | | Label: Universal Studios
Salesrank: 2538
Released: February 17, 2009 |
| Our Price: $9.86 |
| Used Price: $3.72 |
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MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Based on the true story of college professor and part-time inventor Robert Kearns’ (Greg Kinnear) long battle with the U.S. automobile industry, Flash of Genius tells the tale of one man whose fight to receive recognition for his ingenuity at any price. This determined engineer refused to be silenced, and he took on the corporate titans in a battle that nobody thought he could win. When Bob invents a device that would eventually be used by every car in the world, the Kearns think they have struck gold. But their aspirations are dashed after the auto giants who embraced Bob’s creation unceremoniously shunned the man who invented it. While refusing to compromise his dignity, this everyday David will try the unthinkable: to bring Goliath to his knees.
Description of Flash of Genius:
In the early-1990s, Greg Kinnear was just another amiable talk show host. After As Good As It Gets, however, Kinnear confirmed he could act. If Flash of Genius isn't as harrowing as the Bob Crane biopic Auto-Focus, Kinnear digs just as deep to play a man possessed, in this case taking on Bob Kearns, a Detroit physics professor who invented the intermittent windshield wiper. Supported by his wife (Lauren Graham) and best friend (Dermot Mulroney, making the most of an underwritten part), Kearns aims to align himself with a Motor City auto maker to manufacture his device. Ford expresses interest, so Kearns secures a warehouse, but it all falls apart when they abruptly pull the plug. Then he finds out that they've added automatic wipers to their latest line. Though he patented his invention, the company denies they're using his blueprint, so Kearns takes them to court, a process that drags on for three decades. Meanwhile, his support system starts to collapse as Kearns loses interest in everything except the credit he feels he deserves. If the film succumbs to some of the pitfalls of the genre, i.e. the win-lose-win structure, producer-turned-director Marc Abraham never paint Kearns as too much of a hero. Through the inventor's brilliance, the world's streets are safer, but his tenacity also drove away some of those he held most dear. Hence, Flash of Genius serves as an inspirational story, a cautionary tale, and the perfect opportunity for Kinnear to make a potentially off-putting character sympathetic. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
Stills from Flash of Genius (Click for larger image)
Flash of Genius Reviews:
Hard To Watch, But Worth The Effort 
2009-11-03 - We never really wonder where all the little niceties of life come from - the three way light bulb, the tv remote, the automatic thermostat, or the ice maker, just to name a few. These devices make our days easier, with little to no fanfare. We are so used to such conveniences that we never see them, and we certainly never think about them. This film, FLASH OF GENIUS, is the story of the man who invented one such convenience device, the intermittent windshield wiper. Do you even remember a time before we had them? I don't; I mean, not really. Oh, I do know that there were invented in my lifetime, but I certainly don't think about them or really remember when they came into being. But now, I expect every car on the road to have them.
The intermittent windshield wiper was invented by Robert Kearns, a college professor and regular family man with a lovely wife and a passel of kids. FLASH OF GENIUS is his story. His life is completely changed when he invents the mechanism that allows drivers to control the interval between the "blinking" of the blades on a windshield wiper. Dr. Kearns patents his invention and takes it to the Ford Motor Company. Ford is VERY interested (Bob Kearns has done what all the Ford engineers have failed to do) but in the end, they refuse to give him a contract. When Dr. Kearns later learns that Ford has installed the intermittent wipers on their cars, he takes the Ford Motor Company to court for patent infringement, but finds that he is David to their Goliath. They drag out his case nearly 30 years. Bob ends up in a psychiatric hospital, with no family, few friends, and nothing to show for his ingenuity. In the end, Bob does triumph. But was it worth the horrible price?
As I said earlier, FLASH OF GENIUS is a very difficult movie to watch. You ache for this man, as Ford beats him down over and over again. Their treatment of him is detestable and painful to watch as he loses more and more of his life, and it is a testament to Robert Kearns' internal strength and perseverance that he keeps trying.
Greg Kinnear gives the performance of a lifetime as Robert Kearns. Kinnear makes this bumbling, awkward, naïve professor sympathetic and real. The rest of the supporting cast does a fine job, but this is Kinnear's movie. Even a superbly acted appearance by Alan Alda does nothing to lessen the focus on Kinnear's character.
FLASH OF GENIUS unfolds quite slowly, quietly reeling the viewer in. You become emotionally invested in the story. I can't say I "enjoyed" this film, but I certainly found it worth watching. I learned a thing or two, which is one of the main reasons, IMHO, to watch a movie in the first place. And I must say that I will never look at my windshield wipers, the Ford Motor Company, or unsung inventors the same way ever again. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Just OK 
2009-10-27 - While its nobody's fault, this story starts with 2 strikes against it. First, (I presume) everybody knows the outcome. Second, the invention, while handy as a screwdriver, just doesn't seem worth getting all excited about. Perhaps in Seattle. There are much richer films about the little guy like Mr. Smith Goes To Washington and in non-fiction, the one with Russel Crowe vs. the tobacco companies. That's not to say Flash is bad; its just not very exciting and it takes as long as the actual case did.
What would make a more interesting, true story? How about that of Major Armstrong, who invented FM radio and was driven to suicide while trying to collect royalties from RCA. His widow ultimately prevailed when case was settled, about 40 years later. And what about Tom Scholz vs. his record company? I'm sure there are others.
A HEARTWARMING DAVID-BEATS-GOLIATH STORY 
2009-10-16 - FLASH OF GENIUS is a based-on-fact film that presents one more instance of a big company stealing from a lone inventor. Perhaps you already know how Edwin Howard Armstrong, the inventor of FM radio, was ripped off? Or Philo T. Farnsworth, the inventor of television?
Usually big companies are able to get away with their thefts. Their executives and employees are often willing to lie, they can afford lawyers who can tie cases up in court for decades, and sometimes they can even buy congressional support. Remember what disastrous things happened to Preston Tucker in Francis Ford Coppola's TUCKER: THE MAN AND THE DREAM starring Jeff Bridges?
In this film, in an unusual turn of events, the little guy wins. Bob Kearns (played earnestly by Greg Kinnear) is a college physics professor who invented the intermittent windshield wiper, demonstrated it to Ford Motors (who agreed to let him supply his new wiper to them)--and then found they were manufacturing intermittent wipers for themselves using his design.
After years of frustration, heartbreak, and battles with Ford Motors, Kearns earns a heartwarming victory in court--but at great cost to himself and to his family. This is a film that will simultaneously fill you with admiration for the little guy--and disgust for the unethical behavior of money-hungry business executives.
Solid
2009-07-29 - The new film, Flash Of Genius, by first time director Marc Abraham, is one of those films that is well made, well acted, well shot, and technically, there is little to argue with. But, it's still utterly predictable; as predictable as the sports film that features an underdog you just know will win in the end. As with most films that ultimately fail, this film fails for its screenplay. No film can succeed without a good screenplay- one with good dialogue, good characterization, and a good tale. The plot, also, has to come alive, and distinguish itself. Given that this film was based on reality, this constricts, a bit, the play one can have with the reality. So, this is where perspective comes in. Instead of a biopic that tells the whole tale (and at almost two hours in length, this film is 20-40 minutes too long; filled with unneeded passages showing the development of the intermittent windshield wiper, as well as far too much interaction between the lead character, Robert Kearns (Greg Kinnear) and his best friend, Gil Previck (Dermot Mulroney), who disappears 40% of the way into the film, only for a token reappearance at end, when- of course, the little guy perseveres and wins his legal case in the end) there needed to be a set pivot point in the man's life, from which all else could be parallaxed. Now, the problem. It just took a few minutes of researching the life of the real Robert Kearns to see that the film took dramatic liberties with the lawsuit aspect of the tale- Kearns didn't beat the Ford Motor Company in court- he settled, and then beat Chrysler. There are also other elements about the times that events took place in that are not correct. Why this is important is not because art is truth, or nonsense like that, but because it removes the excuses for screenwriter Philip Railsback that all he had to fall back on was the truth.
The good is the acting of Kinnear, who is truly the modern equivalent to Jimmy Stewart- an everyman, far much more so than Tom Hanks has ever been. Kinnear can do drama like Hanks never can. Graham is also very good, and the fact that she does not reconcile with Kearns, after his victory, is one of the lone bright spots in the screenplay- based on truth or not. But, so much of the second half of the film is wasted on moments that have been slapped together from so many other us vs. them films that only the winsomeness of Graham and the likeability of Kinnear prevent narcolepsy. The principled stand that Kearns makes is an engine for the film, but little else. Mitch Pileggi (of X-Files fame) is good as a scumbag Ford bigwig, and there is potential in familial scenes between Kearns and his six kids (both older and younger sets, as the film takes place over more than a decade), but it is never exploited. Too much time, instead, is wasted on Bob's failures with his friend Gil, and a lawyer, Greg Lawson, played by Alan Alda, who cares not for justice, just money. One good aspect of the film is that it opens with Kearns dazed and confused, a couple of years after his being screwed by Ford, only to make that opening worthless, with a flashback to how he got there, and then, an hour in, we catch up, and proceed chronologically. This does not work because it is a fence sitting position. Since events before and after proceed linearly, why do we start off with the hiccup? And then, we see the scene play out a second time. The screenplay should have either played the film from beginning to end, or played around with time and perception inside the character's mind, especially since he did spend time in a loony bin, and after being released from it, according to the film, was never quite the same. Kinnear displays this subtle change in character wonderfully, and may get an Oscar nod for it- a perfect example of how one can see great aspects in a mediocre work of art.
Reputedly, although the bulk of the film is set in Detroit, is was mostly filmed in Hamilton, Ontario, for too much of Detroit has decayed to the point of no return to stand in for its 1960s heyday, when most of the film is set. The title comes from the Flash Of Genius test for patentability, where the Supreme Court affirmed an invention could come to an inventor out of nowhere, without years of work beforehand. The story comes from a 1993 article, by John Seabrook, in the New Yorker, on Kearns, with the same title. But, facts like that are mere trivia. What can set a film apart and above (aside from the already mentioned `hard' aspects of the art) are the intangibles, something Flash Of Genius just does not have. Why? If one could pinpoint that, they would not be intangibles, and this film would rise a few notches, to the level of films like Inherit The Wind or Erin Brockovich, both films like this, that are definite `prose' works, but works whose prose is more akin to a Herman Hesse or Mark Twain, rather than a soap opera. As for poetry? Perhaps Ford stole that, too. Wouldn't be the first time, right?
Another solid job from Greg Kinnear in this very interesting and well-done film.
2009-07-28 - Something I didn't know before: the intermittent windshield wiper is a marvel of engineering. I always took it for granted, and thought it was a pretty simple idea. But in the `50s, all the major American car manufacturers were racing (unsuccessfully) to create one. That this kind of wiper was a good idea was not the question...how to make one that worked was the insurmountable challenge.
Until a physics teacher named Bob Kearns invented it. And in a happy story, he would have sold his device to Ford or GM, made a big chunk of change up front, been written up in some magazines and then received a nice royalty for each one that sold.
Instead, Kearns decided that HE wanted to manufacture them himself, and sell them to the car dealers. This was NOT acceptable to the car companies (understandably...how could they trust such an important device to a man with no experience in mass production). So, rather than continue to negotiate...they stole Kearns' idea. And Kearns spent many, many years trying to get his day in court. To get money, and to get vindication and recognition.
That, in a nutshell, is the basic framework for FLASH OF GENIUS, the story of Bob Kearns' battle with "big auto". We can pretty much predict the basic arc the story is going to take. Kearns will face struggles. His family life will suffer. He will suffer financially. And he will emerge triumphant and victorious in the end...for FLASH OF GENIUS is in a genre of films closely related to sports movies...the underdog ultimately triumphs.
Yet this is a true story, and while I don't know all the details of what this film "hypothesized" or "extrapolated" and what literally happened...the fact that it's true causes the story to have more than its share of unexpected bumps on the road. And MANY of those bumps are caused by Kearns himself.
As played by Greg Kinnear, Bob Kearns is an affable, slightly nerdy "nice" guy (can anyone do affable better than Kinnear these days?). He's a smart man with a burning desire to teach the joys of science...and a burning desire to make a fortune through the power of his own inventiveness. These are GOOD things, more or less. But we soon learn that Kearns is also an unreasonably stubborn man. While there is no question that Kearns was...frankly...screwed by the car companies, we can also see that Kearns own stubbornness and unwillingness to compromise didn't do him a lot of favors.
Kearns has a beautiful, loving family...headed up by his strong, sensible wife Phyllis (Lauren Graham, looking and acting JUST right for the time period). Yet, despite opportunities to settle and chances to move on with some grace...Kearns clings to his beliefs even as his family is pushed away.
I don't really want to say a lot more about how the story all plays out...but suffice it to say that FLASH OF GENIUS is at least half about how one man slowly descends into madness. Not the "put him in a straightjacket and give him electroshock" kind of "movie insanity," but a more subtle and chilling kind.
Kinnear does outstanding work yet again. It's funny, after all these years, I keep expecting him to stink. After all, wasn't he just the smarmy host of "Talk Soup?" Even after an Oscar nomination, and great performances in LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, AUTO FOCUS and more...he keeps surprising me. To be honest, he hardly seems to act at all...he just becomes these guys. He is clearly selective about the work he chooses to do and generally understands what he's good at. But he's VERY good at it. He has a nice chemistry with Graham and all the kids. It's just a very solid performance that makes the entire film work.
There are nice supporting performances from a good cast: Dermot Mulroney and Alan Alda spring to mind, but everyone is good. The art direction and costumes are spot on.
Honestly, there is nothing wrong with this film...except its scope. It's a "little" story, told with an easygoing style. It's not trying to say anything global in scope. It has no flashy scenes or that perfect "Oscar moment." It is quiet, unassuming and sturdy. Hence, it is not very moving, and the climax (due in part to what has happened to Kearns and his family) is anti-climactic. I suspect a lot of viewers (teenagers, for example) would be bored to death. However, an adult audience looking for very solid, professional storytelling will be well-rewarded by FLASH OF GENIUS...a movie that promises to follow a predictable path, but takes some surprising turns.
