Review of Kinsey (2004) by Jemps G — 30 Oct 2007

Saw Kinsey--with my dad! I did not get to check what it was about; all he said was that it was a Liam Neeson flick. I'm like my dad in that sense, trusting the quality of the film being worth my while by relying on the star's track record. The actor becomes the brand you trust.

I like Liam Neeson because he really fills the screen with his presence and he's able to successfully transform into any character he plays. He's never the same guy. Despite the moral issues and questionable ethics of his character, he made Kinsey likable because in Kinsey's world, everything is possible, and I reacted positively to that. He traversed a very thin line of what was acceptable and what was not, but those sacrifices he made of himself, his marriage and his career are what allowed the rest of us to enjoy a little bit more liberty and knowledge about ourselves.

It's Kinsey's world of possibilities and passionate quest for truth that makes his character so appealing, despite his fallibility. The movie's funny moments made it easier to view as well, despite the story being told more academically than erotically.

Kinsey works because it has a strong cast and a writer/director who understands how to tastefully translate an otherwise controversial story into celluloid.

While it was quite disconcerting watching such a frank movie with my father (who happens to teach ethics, hence the ethical discussion after the movie), it was able to successfully delve into the lives of the richly defined characters and not just focus on the plot alone, making the audience care about what the characters feel and what happens to them.

Kinsey, in another director's hands, could've been easily exploitable and sensationalized, but Bill Condon (also of Gods and Monsters) handled the graphic nature of the movie very well; a true storyteller.