It’s the first day of school and Greg Kinnear, as a college engineering professor, writes the word “ethics” on the blackboard for his students to ponder. Obviously, this will be important to this character and to his story. It’s also just one of many examples of director Mark Abraham spelling out for the audience exactly where he’s going with “Flash of Genius,” a bland David-and-Goliath tale of corporate greed and deception that’s based on true events. Kinnear stars as Dr. Robert Kearns, married father of six and inventor of the intermittent windshield wiper in 1960s Detroit. Someone had to figure it out — the guys at the Ford Motor Co. had been tinkering for a while with little success. But then when Kearns came along, the company liked his makeshift contraption so much, it stole the thing away from him and perfected it without giving him credit (or a cent). “Flash of Genius” is the long, arduous story of the legal battles and family sacrifices Kearns made in the name of truth, justice and all that is right in this world. There’s something quaint about how old-fashioned this little guy’s fight is — and Kinnear is often so aw-shucks in his Midwesternness, it sounds like he’s doing a Jimmy Stewart impression. Always one with a flair for comedy, Kinnear is stronger toward the end of the movie, when Kearns nervously serves as his own lawyer in court; the absurdity of these scenes provides some desperately needed laughs. You know the ...
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It’s the first day of school and Greg Kinnear, as a college engineering professor, writes the word “ethics” on the blackboard for his students to ponder. Obviously, this will be important to this character and to his story. It’s also just one of many examples of director Mark Abraham spelling out for the audience exactly where he’s going with “Flash of Genius,” a bland David-and-Goliath tale of corporate greed and deception that’s based on true events. Kinnear stars as Dr. Robert Kearns, married father of six and inventor of the intermittent windshield wiper in 1960s Detroit. Someone had to figure it out — the guys at the Ford Motor Co. had been tinkering for a while with little success. But then when Kearns came along, the company liked his makeshift contraption so much, it stole the thing away from him and perfected it without giving him credit (or a cent). “Flash of Genius” is the long, arduous story of the legal battles and family sacrifices Kearns made in the name of truth, justice and all that is right in this world. There’s something quaint about how old-fashioned this little guy’s fight is — and Kinnear is often so aw-shucks in his Midwesternness, it sounds like he’s doing a Jimmy Stewart impression. Always one with a flair for comedy, Kinnear is stronger toward the end of the movie, when Kearns nervously serves as his own lawyer in court; the absurdity of these scenes provides some desperately needed laughs. You know the ...