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Movies / On DVD / Flash of Genius
Flash of Genius

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Flash of Genius (2008)

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Reviews Counted:103

Fresh:60

Rotten:43

Average Rating:6/10

Consensus: The touching underdog story of a single guy against a massive corporation, Flash of Genius is a well-paced and well-written tale with a standout performance by star Greg Kinnear.

Rated: 12A [See Full Rating] for brief strong language.

Runtime: 2 hrs

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:20-03-2009

Synopsis: Veteran producer Marc Abraham makes his feature film debut with FLASH OF GENIUS, based on a true story set in Detroit and spanning multiple decades. Dr. Robert Kearns (Greg Kinnear) has a good... Veteran producer Marc Abraham makes his feature film debut with FLASH OF GENIUS, based on a true story set in Detroit and spanning multiple decades. Dr. Robert Kearns (Greg Kinnear) has a good life. A respected college professor who teaches electrical engineering, he has a lovely wife (Lauren Graham) and six great kids. But first and foremost, Kearns is an inventor. In 1967, he built the intermittent windshield wiper, dubbing it "Kearns' Blinking Eye," and ultimately shared his patented specs with Ford Motor Company so that he could manufacture the wipers for them. Then he spends his life trying to get Ford to admit that they stole his idea when he spots his invention on Ford cars after they bail out of the deal with him. Kearns isn't after money. In taking on one of the most powerful corporations in America, if not the world, Kearns wants Ford to tell the truth and give credit where credit is due. At the same time, he wants to protect the patent process for every inventor. Kinnear gives a nuanced performance as Kearns, a quirky, church-going family man and professor who slowly descends into paranoia and obsession with reaching his goals. Graham fits the bill as a loving but independent wife and mother who finds herself competing with her husband's quest. Dermot Mulroney is solid as Kearns's childhood friend and early business partner. And it's a treat to see Alan Alda as a justice-seeking lawyer who may or not be able to live up to Kearns's high expectations. FLASH OF GENIUS is based on a John Seabrook article that appeared in The New Yorker in 1993, and his later book of the same name. [More]

Starring: Greg Kinnear, Lauren Graham, Dermot Mulroney, Alan Alda

Starring: Greg Kinnear, Lauren Graham, Dermot Mulroney, Alan Alda, Mitch Pileggi, Bill Smitrovich

Director: Marc Abraham

Director: Marc Abraham
Screenwriter: Philip Railsback, Scott Frank, Marc Abraham
Producer: Roger Birnbaum, Gary Barber, Michael Lieber
Composer: Aaron Zigman
Studio: Universal Pictures

[See More Credits]

  • Trailers
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  • Trailer
    >
    Bob Confronts Gill
    >
    Purpose in Life
    >
    Ford Wants Out
    >
  • Sue For the Patents
    >
    The Perils of the Case
    >
    This May Be Your Moment
    >
    Test Drive
    >
1 - 4 of 8

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Reviews for Flash of Genius

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61 - 80 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

The film made me want to be a better person and shows you that life is sometimes about honor and not money.

Full Review Source: WJFK-FM (CBS Radio) | comment Comment
10/03/08
Kevin McCarthy
Kevin McCarthy
WJFK-FM (CBS Radio)

The film's major drawback is its unintentional drone-like quality. It's poorly lit and the somber production design becomes a grind rather than looking like one.

Full Review Source: ReelTalk Movie Reviews | comment Comment
10/03/08
John P. McCarthy
John P. McCarthy
ReelTalk Movie Reviews

just about everyone not named Trump or Gates will be rooting for this underdog to get what is rightfully his

Full Review Source: WaffleMovies.com | comment Comment
10/03/08
Willie Waffle
Willie Waffle
WaffleMovies.com

The film never rises above its mundane subject matter, and it certainly doesn't do anything to distinguish itself from any other run-of-the-mill fact-based drama about One Man fighting against The System.

Full Review Source: EricDSnider.com | comment Comment
10/02/08
Eric D. Snider
Eric D. Snider
EricDSnider.com

"Flash of Genius" is a film that is desperately in search of one--some burst of inspiration that would transform it from the paint-by-numbers inspirational saga that it is into something deeper and better.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
10/02/08
Peter Sobczynski
Peter Sobczynski
eFilmCritic.com

The film rests easily on Kinnear's narrow but sturdy shoulders.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
10/02/08
Dan Lybarger
Dan Lybarger
eFilmCritic.com

Is being proved right worth the cost to the man and his family? "Flash of Genius" answers this: yes and no.

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
10/02/08
Robin Clifford
Robin Clifford
Reeling Reviews

a cut-and-dried underdog story

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
10/02/08
Sean O'Connell
Sean O'Connell
Filmcritic.com

Director Mark Abraham gives the film a gritty authenticity, and he shows us the price Kearns and his family pay for his dedication and stubbornness.

Full Review Source: Beliefnet | comment Comment
10/02/08
Nell Minow
Nell Minow
Beliefnet

There's definitely hope for an industry that can still make a movie as good as Flash of Genius about a subject as difficult as intellectual property rights.

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
10/02/08
William Arnold
William Arnold
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

A kamikaze flight of a movie that presents itself like a weighty Oscar contender. If there were a category for Best Unintentional Self-Parody, it would be a shoo-in.

Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
10/02/08
Colin Covert
Colin Covert
Minneapolis Star Tribune

It's the individual story, fleshed out by Philip Railsback's intelligent script, that makes the audience care.

Full Review Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | comment Comment
10/02/08
Cathy Jakicic
Cathy Jakicic
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Flash of Genius takes an uninteresting idea -- on the surface, at least -- and actually makes it even less interesting than it already would be.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
10/02/08
Jeff Vice
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

I would have been much more enthusiastic about this film if it had emphasized the moral corruption of the American system of civil justice than just heaping all of the blame on Ford.

Full Review Source: Tolucan Times | comment Comment
10/02/08
Tony Medley
Tony Medley
Tolucan Times

This movie doesn't really offer anything new, but the quiet, meditative execution was refreshing.

Full Review Source: Sin Magazine | comment Comment
10/02/08
Austin Kennedy
Austin Kennedy
Sin Magazine

Flash of Genius has its corn, its conflation, its composite characters. But Kinnear does what he's done in the past: You underestimate the guy's acting chops, and suddenly, strikingly, he floors you.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer | comment Comment
10/02/08
Steven Rea
Steven Rea
Philadelphia Inquirer

A stand-up-and-cheer story that doesn't feel like it's pushing butts out of seats.

Full Review Source: Metromix.com | comment Comment
10/02/08
Matt Pais
Matt Pais
Metromix.com

Flash Of Genius has all the pleasures of an underdog film and none of the guilt of being pandered, patronized, and fed a feel-good moral.

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
10/02/08
Tasha Robinson
Tasha Robinson
AV Club

With minimal saccharine emotions and a reliance on low-key realism, Flash of Genius is a formulaic underdog tale carried out with decided intelligence.

Full Review Source: DustinPutman.com | comment Comment
10/02/08
Dustin Putman
Dustin Putman
DustinPutman.com

Genius is appealing, and while the story is an odd one, it remains an intriguing observation of underhanded corporate business practices told through formulaic melodramatic trappings.

Full Review Source: BrianOrndorf.com | comment Comment
10/02/08
Brian Orndorf
Brian Orndorf
BrianOrndorf.com
 
 
61 - 80 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 >> >|
all

Latest News for Flash of Genius

March 17, 2009: Five Favourite Films with Greg Kinnear
How do you describe the career of a guy who started as the host of Talk Soup on E! and within five years was Oscar nominated for a role opposite Jack Nicholson? Greg Kinnear is... More...

February 16, 2009: RT on DVD: High School Musical 3 or Midnight Meat Train?
It's a good week for mediocre films (Body of Lies, Changeling, Quarantine and Flash of Genius, which all walk a fine line between Fresh and Rotten) and an even better one if... More...

October 02, 2008: Box Office Guru Preview: Chihuahua to Overtake Multiplexes
Hollywood kicks off the fourth quarter with a stampede of new releases that will test the elasticity of the marketplace. Ambulances are already on standby to rush the high... More...

September 02, 2008: After 15 Years, Abraham's Flash of Genius Strikes Opens in new window
Why make your directorial debut on a movie about the guy who invented the intermittent windshield wiper? For Marc Abraham, it came down to a matter of principle. More...

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