Stars:
***
Rating: PG-13 for brief
strong language
Run
Time: 1
hour, 59 minutes
Greg Kinnear
headlines this stirring David and Goliath tale of steadfast perseverance and
pride.
Detroit,
Michigan circa early 1960s. Robert Kearns (Kinnear) is burning the candle at
both ends as a gifted MIT professor of electrical engineering, amateur inventor
and Catholic father of (gulp) six.
During a
routine flash rainstorm Kearns hits on a great idea; intermittent windshield
wipers that function much as the human eye.
With a great
deal of enthusiasm and can-do naiveté the nutty professor takes his idea to the
Ford Motor Company with the proviso that he be allowed to manufacture the
wipers himself.
Eighteen
months and endless stalling tactics later Ford rolls out its revolutionary Mustang,
a flashy roadster with a short rear deck and, you guessed it, intermittent
windshield wipers.
Refusing to
let this blatant patent infringement go without a fight Kearns digs in,
determined to stand for what’s right. But being right can be an isolating
experience; friendships are damaged, mental health takes a hit and Kearns’
stand-by-your-man wife (Laurel Graham) finally reaches her breaking point.
And still
Kearns won’t give up the fight. Not when his children turn their backs on him
and not when he suffers a nervous breakdown. Not when his lawyer packs up his
briefcase and not when Ford offers him millions to walk away.
“Genius” is a
classic biopic of grit and resolve, of championing the little people in the
face of great odds and the big bad corporate machine. Which also works to its
disadvantage as a much ballyhooed and overworked genre.
Director Marc
Abraham lays down a vivid portrait of fortitude backed by a glossy palette of
abundant virtue and guileless period mores. Kinnear is a class act, a supremely
steady talent who smoothly taps into a smorgasbord of emotions – anger,
frustration, resentment and elation – with thespian cool.
Bottom line
you don’t have to work for it but there’s something exceedingly satisfying
about entertainment for entertainment’s sake.