Review of Flash of Genius (2008) by Tonypolito — 15 Aug 2010

A true story oh-so similar in nature and spirit to "Tucker: The Man And His Dream.".

"Genius" doesn't accomplish anywhere near the suspense, high-drama or elative emotion found within "Tucker." Rather, the director intentionally and slowly trudges the viewer along through the detailed muck of it all, gandering extensively at the details of the lonely and endless grunt work that is Kearns' decades-long quest - to righteously tip the Scales of Justice against Detroit automakers for thieving his patented intermittent windshield wiper.

Kearns' story is well worth telling, but it is not told here as entertainment, but more so as uncompromised admiration. Some degree of liberty has been taken here regarding the details surrounding Kearns' tribulations; for example, nothing is said of GM, though Kearns dogged them for decades as well. But the basic storyline told is true enough.

Though the film is slow and subtle, it paints a fine portrait of a quirky, introverted and intelligent man who, as the film progresses, seems ever taller, seems ever more impressive, as he perseveres against, and navigates past, a horde of unaccomplished, unethical and self-serving individuals.

In Act III of "The Fountainhead," (1949), Gary Cooper delivers an exquisite (and extensive) philosophical soliloquy that contemplates such individuals: "The creator thinks; the parasite copies. The creator produces; the parasite loots. The creator's concern is the conquest of nature; the parasite's concern is the conquest of men." "Genius" is the true story of one such creator - and his lifelong odyssey among the parasites that, far too often, loot us all.

RECOMMENDATION: Worthy viewing.