Review of Flash of Genius (2008) by Sinian K — 24 Sep 2009

Who would have thought that a film about an intermittent windshield wiper would actually be interesting. Well it's a welcome and pleasant surprise. Greg Kinnear is excellent as the late Robert Kearns who designs the "blinking eye" or intermittent windscreen wiper. He shows it to the biggest car corporation at that time (Ford) who, struggling with their own designs for a similiar product, ultimately steal his design, putting it on all their new cars in the subsequent years. Kearns is left with no recognition or financial reward for his efforts, and spends the next 30 years trying to get the credit he deserves and an apology from Ford.

This film really is a character study of the man, who died quite recently in 2005. Over the course of his life he lost everything, his wife, family and even his mental health. Eventually he is rewarded for his efforts but the journey almost destroys him. Kinnear portrays this quite admirably, giving an honest, restrained performance deserving of better recognition that he eventually received. With solid directing from Marc Abraham this is an.

Excellent film without the hollywood gloss or polish, well worth checking out.