Flash of Genius (2008)

I give this movie a 10 because movies like this have to be fought for, hard and rarely get past the idea room. This is a great little movie much like Tucker: A Man and His Dream. It also I a record of how big corporations want to squash the little guy and steal their ideas. It is amazing what this man endured to get his invention credited to his efforts! Even is half was exaggerated, still incredible. Love these types of movies and want to support them! Greg nails this type of role! Great work all-around.

Greg Kinnear stars in Flash of Genius, featuring Lauren Graham and Dermot Mulroney.Flash of Genius is the true story of Robert Kearns, an inventor, an engineering teacher and Ph.D who invented the intermittent windshield. While in negotiations with Ford Motor Company, Ford pulled out and decided they didn't want it, even though they had been working on one for years and hadn't come up with a solution.When Kearns sees his windshield on a car, he realizes that Ford has stolen his invention. Though everyone, including his friend and business partner (Mulroney) don't want him to pursue it, and he does, hiring an attorney, Gregory Lawson (Alan Alda). Lawson gets a settlement offer for a quarter of a million dollars. Kearns turns it down for one reason. Ford will not admit they stole his invention, and though they approach him again, he continues to turn them down. Finally, working as his own attorney and with his son's help, he finally gets his day in court.As another poster pointed out, the story is sad in a way because for every Bob Kearns who won't give up, there are hundreds and maybe thousands of people who have invented things, only to see their invention stolen.Kearns suffered through a nervous breakdown, the deterioration of his family, and isolation as he fought his case.Greg Kinnear did a wonderful job as Kearns, a serious, somewhat eccentric, and brilliant man who believed in ethics and integrity.This is a very inspiring story -- it's not easy to make a movie about the invention of a windshield wiper, and maybe it's not the most exciting film I've ever seen, but I liked it.

Greg Kinnear was fantastic in this movie as Robert Kearns, inventor of the intermittent wiper. But there is some very interesting irony with this story as well.Florence Lawrence who was the world's first movie star and received the very first movie credit ever--the movie was "The Broken Oath" released on November 15, 1910.According to Kelly R. Brown's 1999 biography, Florence Lawrence, the Biograph Girl, she was an avid automobile driver during a period when very few people actually owned cars. In 1914 she invented the first turn signal, which she called an 'auto signaling arm', which attached to the back fender. When a driver pressed a button it electrically raised or lowered a sign attached that indicated the direction of the intended turn. Her brake signal worked on the same principle that an arm with a sign reading 'stop' rose up whenever the driver pressed the brake pedal. This was the essential concept behind today's brake lights.Unfortunately Lawrence did not properly patent her inventions and soon other, more refined versions were invented and brought to market.However, in 1917 with her mother she did patent a system of electrical windshield wipers, but it made no money. By the time the first electrical turn signals became standard equipment on the 1939 Buick, her contributions were long forgotten and she was dead." I find it amazingly ironic that the windshield wiper was a thorn in the side to not only Robert Kearns, the intermittent wiper inventor, but the original wiper inventor as well, Florence Lawrence.

I, for one, strongly oppose any kind of plagiarism because nobody has the right to steal someone else's work and claim it to be theirs. 'Flash of Genius' tells the heartbreaking story of inventer Dr. Kearns. While windshield wipers may sound like a small thing that hardly many give consideration to (as Kearns's friends have told him), it's not a matter of the object at hand but the effort that went behind it and why should credit go to somebody else? I admire Kearns for putting up a fight and keeping up the battle for justice and even though it cost him his family, he fought to the end. I'm surprised as to how little recognition 'Flash of Genius' received considering that the story is extremely relevant even for today's world.The director does a splendid job in telling this moving story. Greg Kinnear delivers a heartfelt lowkeyed performance which is among one of the best of his career. Unfortunately, he remains an underrated actor but I hope he keeps making the wise film choices and gets his due soon. Lauren Graham is wonderfully restrained and marvelous but she's risking getting typecast (she's played supportive wife in two other recent movies 'Evan Almighty' and 'Birds of America'). Dermot Mulroney too stands out as Privick. Where the technical department is concerned, the director has used a lot of subtlety with the cinematography, soundtrack and visuals. It is only later that we realize what an important symbol rain is in this movie. The washed out colour adds to the tense, stressful and sad atmosphere. 'Flash of Genius' is definitely a worthy watch not only because it tells an engaging story but a very relevant one.