Reviewed by Hunter M. Daniels

There is a difference between a theatrical film and a television film. I don’t know exactly what it is, but you can just feel it. Back in the days when I used to go to test screenings I would occasionally come across a direct-to-video or television film screening. They never played. Even the expensive ones. Even the ones with big stars.

Flash of Genius is the latest film in the time honored, single-man-against-a-corporation subgenre of biopics. The first film I saw at Telluride, American Violet was another entry into this field (albeit one starring a woman). And, as with American Violet the film is woefully underwhelming.

The film tells the story of Bob Kearns, a man who spent over a decade suing Ford Motors for reverse engineering his invention, the intermittent windshield wiper. The strain of the court case drove Kearns over the edge. He lost his wife, his job, and even his sanity for a period. Greg Kinnear stars as Kearns with Lauren Graham and Alan Alda supporting him as wife and lawyer, respectively.

The biggest issue with the film is that Kearns is just not a sympathetic character. Instead of coming off as a maverick genius who fights for what is right, Kearns feels like an obsessive compulsive loser who cares more about outside approval from a soulless corporation than he does about his own children. If the film were about an obsessed man who destroys his life to be proven right, I might have enjoyed it. In fact, if someone along the lines of Werner Herzog had tackled this project it could have been a classic. But it’s not. Longtime horror producer cum first time director Marc Abraham treats Kearns as a hero. Screenwriter Phillip Railsback seems to better understand the tragic nature of the battle but can’t stop himself from glorifying the man. But no matter how much the film tries to get us to believe in Kearns, I just couldn’t find a way to root for a guy who chose a grudge over a family of six children. 

And then there is the pacing. The first 90 minutes of the film are just dreadfully boring. Nothing of interest or substance occurs. The film starts at the end of the first act, then cuts back to the beginning, then proceeds to jump ahead months and years at a time with no real rhythm. Having to deal with new makeup and new child actors so often makes the whole thing off putting.

That said, Kinnear does good work during the final reel when the case finally makes it to court. Kearns defended himself and Kinnear has great fun playing a befuddled non-lawyer who is suddenly thrown into the middle of a room with 500-dollar-an-hour types. During these scenes the film becomes charming and fresh. Sadly, they are fairly brief.

It’s not that Flash of Genius is a bad film, it’s just that it would have played better between commercials.