DVD Review: Greg Kinnear’s Feel-Good ‘Flash of Genius’ Not Great

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DVD Rating: 2.5/5.0

CHICAGO – Greg Kinnear does solidly entertaining work in “Flash of Genius” and director Marc Abraham understands the basics of the inspirational crowd-pleaser, but the film ultimately feels like a missed opportunity to tell a more riveting version of the same story. The excellent design, great central performance, and an entire team with its heart in the right place go a long way in making “Flash of Genius” a worthwhile rental, but the screenplay by Philip Railsback misses the heart of this complex story.

One of the more underrated actors alive, Greg Kinnear, does an admirable job of selling the David-and-Goliath story of another little man struggling to take down a corporate giant, a story made all the more powerful in our current economic crisis. But I think there’s more to Bob Kearns than this Capra-esque take on his life story.

Flash of Genius is released by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment on February 17th, 2009.
Photo credit: Universal

Bob Kearns invented the intermittent windshield wiper. Before Bob, windshield wipers were either on or off with no varying speeds in between. It’s a pretty cool invention. And Ford Motor Company stole it.

Flash of Genius is released by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment on February 17th, 2009. Photo credit: Universal

Kearns and his friend (Dermot Mulroney) took the “Blinking Eye Windshield Wiper” to the biggest car company in Motor City, knowing that they had been working on the same thing for years but hadn’t technically cracked it. They wanted Bob’s and, after a lot of convincing of the protective Kearns, took a model for design.

Less than two years later, Kearns saw what looked like his design on the new Ford model and he sued. Despite encouragement to settle, mountains of paperwork, and years of his life and his own sanity in question, Kearns wanted nothing more than recognition and would fight until he got it.

To do what Bob Kearns did with Ford takes a little bit of insanity. There are complicated, dark aspects to the Kearns story that I wish “Flash of Genius” would have taken more time addressing. We could definitely use more men in this world who value things like justice and pride over the almighty dollar.

At the same time, “Flash of Genius” misses the fact that Kearns tore his life apart. His wife (Lauren Graham) left him. He rarely saw his kids when they grew up. He lost his job. He battled a company for which time meant nothing and turned down money that could have forever changed the lives of his children.

Was it right? There’s a case to be made either way, but Abraham and Railsback put Kearns on too much of a pedestal. You know there were nights when Kearns cried himself to sleep. There must have been soul-searching moments where he nearly took the settlement or realized that victory was unlikely. I wish “Flash of Genius” featured more of that and less of what the DVD case calls a “remarkable, feel-good journey”.

Flash of Genius is released by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment on February 17th, 2009. Photo credit: Universal

Even if the script for “Flash of Genius” feels a little shallow, the design of the film is remarkably deep. Abraham and his team have made a film that feels authentic, even if the emotion and passion is missing.

“Flash of Genius” is a crowd-pleaser that would have been a much more effective film if the people who made it recognized that David has to be a little crazy to take on Goliath.

Universal was clearly disappointed in “Flash of Genius,” choosing to release the film only in standard definition and not making it available on Blu-Ray. Aren’t we at the point where all theatrical releases from a major studio will get a Blu-Ray release? I think we will be by the end of the year.

The DVD for “Flash of Genius” is presented in anamorphic widescreen with a 2.40:1 aspect ratio and with a Dolby Digital 5.1 track. For standard DVD, it looks and sounds very good. Special features include deleted scenes with commentary by Abraham and an audio track by the director on the entire film. The lack of a behind-the-scenes featurette or any interview footage with Kinnear is disappointing.

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com [email protected]