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Movie review: “Flash of Genius”
BY MAGGIE SCOTT
Although the screenplay of “Flash of Genius” could have been a bit more inventive in its dramatization of the story of inventor Robert Kearns, there is no denying that the screen is illuminated by more than a few flashes of genuine emotion.
Greg Kinnear is the perfect choice to play the religiously devout family man who impresses on his electrical engineering students in their first class the importance of ethics. Kearns is nursing dreams of “doing something important” with his life. He has no idea the day he voices a casual complaint about his car’s windshield wipers how much time, work and sacrifice it will take achieving that something.
Raindrops falling on the Kearns automobile and the squeak of the perpetual scrape of the wipers removing them are more than an annoyance to the eyes and ears while Bob is driving his wife (Lauren Graham) and six kids home from church. They’re an inspiration that sends him into his garage to tinker with his car’s wiper motor to eventually design what he calls The Kearns Blinking Eye Wiper.
With help from Gil (Dermot Mulroney), a car dealer friend, Kearns takes his idea for the intermittent wiper to curious reps of the Ford Motor Company. This Goliath has been working on its own version of Kearns’ idea, but after hearing Bob describe what he’s built, they casually declare, “Looks like you’ve won the wiper wars.”
Ford’s interest in backing Kearns, who is adamant about manufacturing the device himself, appears genuine, until out of the blue Gil informs Bob that Ford is pulling the plug on the project. This isn’t a question of losing faith in the product. On the contrary—as Kearns sees one rainy night on the streets of Detroit, as two unmistakable cars roll past him—Ford is offering Bob’s
Thus begins the long day’s journey into night for Bob Kearns. Losing wife, kids and his sanity over the next several years, Kearns doesn’t turn the other cheek. He fights back with the righteousness of his cause, the love he has for his creation.
Ford tries to get Kearns to settle. The amount keeps going up. And up. Kearns’ frustrated lawyer (Alan Alda) accuses Kearns of craving recognition and washes his hands of the case. Kearns goes it alone, until one night his estranged older son (Jake Abel) returns to aid his prodigal father in getting ready to have his day in court.
The essence of Kearns’ story is heroic and inspiring. But, writer Philip Railsback has failed to do justice to what Kearns accomplished. Rating: PG-13 for language.
