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Australia Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
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Appaloosa Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
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Flash of Genius
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MPAA RATING: PG-13 for brief strong language
Starring Greg Kinnear, Lauren Graham, Dermot Mulroney, Alan Alda, Bill Smitrovich, Tim Kelleher, and Jake Abel
Based on the true story of college professor and part-time inventor Robert Kearns' long battle with the U.S. automobile industry, Flash of Genius tells the tale of one man whose fight to receive recognition for his ingenuity would come at a heavy price. But this determined engineer refused to be silenced, and he took on the corporate titans in a battle that nobody thought he could win. (Universal Pictures)
| GENRE(S): | Drama |
| WRITTEN BY: | Phillip Railsback |
| DIRECTED BY: | Marc Abraham |
| RELEASE DATE: | Theatrical: October 3, 2008 |
| RUNNING TIME: | 119 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: | USA |
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
The average user rating for this movie is 7.5 (out of 10) based on 10 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Bob W gave it an8:
Not flashy, but an engrossing story with good performances. Literate, simple, and enjoyable.
Linda K. gave it a10:
Engrossing throughout. Lots of lovely, subtle things in the setting. The way Greg Kinnear played Kearns, the viewer understood why he could not quit the quest. Alan Alda surprise me because I had type cast him into being a very honorable character instead of a very practical one.
Fantasy gave it a7:
Good movie not great. GK does another outstanding job. A bit long but otherwise okay with a predictable ending.
Dennis L. gave it a9:
Doesn't deserve the tepid score. Kinnear is very good, the court room scenes are compelling, and the afterglow is quietly strong.
Mike E. gave it a4:
pretty weak. They took a terrific story line and made it boring.
Chad S. gave it a6:
The intermittent windshield wiper is his Mona Lisa; only one person painted the Mona Lisa. In another century, prior to the Italian Renaissance, Bob Kearns(Greg Kinnear) would have been considered an artist, as the distinction between artisan and artist hadn't been made yet. When Bob invented the intermittent windshield wiper, he did it independently, not by committee. During therapy, the tortured "artist" asks the doctor how'd he feel if another man's name appeared on his published books. This is the sort of question Bob should be asking the team of engineers at Ford, whose labored fruits carry the corporate logo. They're like clusterf***** Hollywood screenwriters at an arbitartion hearing before the Writers Guild of America, who rules against their claim for on-screen credit. When Bob's case is brought up before the court, he's like Arthur C. Clarke trying to get his "patent" on HAL back from MGM Studios. Blind in one eye, due to a honeymoon mishap with an errant champagne cork, Bob sounds like pioneering Soviet filmmaker Dziga Vertov as he describes the Kearns Blinking Eye Wiper operating under the principles of an eyelid. This inventor was like "The Man with a Cor-ko Eye" in approaching Ford; the maverick trying to woo the establishment, with the naive notion that he wouldn't be co-opted. (If Vertov came to Hollywood and worked with John Ford, he'd try to cut "The Searchers" like "Flash...dance". This Constructivist filmmaker unwittingly predicted the language of the music video.) Despite its winning story about the underdog going after "the man", "Flash of Genius" is hampered by a dramatic inertness as Bob waits for his day at court. Surely, the DaVinci of the pantograph arms(thank you, Wikipedia) attempted to paint another Mona Lisa during the interim, when he wasn't alienating his family and friends. That's the direction "Flash of Genius" should have taken, a dramatization of Bob Kearns' realization that you can't catch lightning in a bottle the second time around. Losing his Tesla girl was tough, losing his invention was tougher, but knowing that he peaked was probably the greatest source of the inventor's angst. Every artist, or artisan, fears this; the loss of creativity, having hot flashes of unimaginativity.
Sue P. gave it a9:
I'm shocked that the user rating is so low on this film. It was a bit slow, but the acting and story were excellent - a tribute to anyone who fights for good ethics and decency. It's about time.
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