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Worth Watching - July 20: Greg Kinnear's Flash of Genius Trailer

by Alex Billington
July 20, 2008
Source: Apple

Universal has debuted the full trailer for Flash of Genius, a drama about college professor and inventor Robert Kearns whose invention of intermittent windshield wiper was stolen by the automobile manufacturers in the 1960s. Comparisons can be made to movies full of hope and ambition like Will Smith's Pursuit of Happyness, and Flash of Genius looks like it could be just as good. There are always a lot of great stories about successful and proud individuals in history that go unnoticed. This is one of them. Last year I saw the highly underrated movie The Flying Scotsman, a fantastic film about a determined cyclist. Flash of Genius looks like another wonderful story about a man who just couldn't let them get away with stealing his invention. And damnit, I love seeing these kinds of heartwarming films.

Watch the trailer for Flash of Genius:

You can also watch the Flash of Genius trailer in High Definition on Apple

Based on the true story of college professor and part-time inventor Robert Kearns' (Greg Kinnear) 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.

Flash of Genius is directed by long-time producer and first-time director Marc Abraham, with a script written by Philip Railsback, of La Cruz de Iberia and The Stars Fell on Henrietta previously. The film is based on the true story of Kearns as told in John Seabrook's article in the New Yorker. Universal is releasing Flash of Genius in theaters on October 17th. The poster is featured below.

Flash of Genius Poster

Explore tags: To Watch, Trailers

Darrin

is it just me or this greg kinnear is planning to win an oscar.
Carlos

windshield wipers, huh?
http://www.c-r-u-x.de c-r-u-x

Though I really tried getting interested in the story of this film, it just bores me to death. Despite the fact they try to abstract the story as far as making it "a question about right and wrong" rather than a question of money, in my eyes they don't succeed in making it a story that's relevant and interesting to a larger group of people...
-Ingrid

I like it. Everybody's got a windshield-wiper. Everybody can relate to something being stolen from then and nobody giving a darn. And it looks good and I like Greg Kinnear. This film probably won't get a wide release but it's something that I will hunt down and see.
http://handfulofwires.blogspot.com DCompose

I like heartwarming stories. But this looks really lame.
Curtis

This looks good i love these type of movies, great story of something that was your idea getting taken away from you everyone can relate to that. Greg Kinnear is a damn good actor and really enjoy his work.
kitano0

Greg Kinnear is one of the most under-rated, under-celebrated actors. His work in The Matador was great, and the one about Bob Crane (sorry, can't think of the name) was excellent, too. I think he will be around a long time, and this movie looks good. Also, I've always thought that windsheild wiper was one of the best inventions, ever.
http://www.flashofgenius.net Dennis

I've watched it being filmed in Toronto. It looked like a great picture. I'm going to catch it next week at the Traverse City Film Festival. http://www.traversecityfilmfest.org Kinnear's acting is award winning, an Oscar contender.
http://www.myspace.com/kevjohnphotography kevjohn

Here's another one to add to the "movie cliches that need to be retired" heap: Lawyer/confidante/spouse says "you could end up with nothing!" The response? Always -- "don't take the absolutely fantastic deal that will set the family for life. Stick to your principles."
Vega Bro

Looks like an enjoyable period piece and I will see Greg Kinear in anything after his preformance in Little Miss Sunshine. The only thing I have against this is that awful song they intermittintly played in the trailer. It completely obliterated the whole mood of what the trailer was trying to communicate.
E

@9 : those ridiculous cliches have to be in film because of the ridiculous mundanes that go to view movies that cant understand something as complicated as someone actually sticking to their principles. The story is based on a very sad and messed up true story which is all about principles. It's a shame that people cant understand something without some stupid line in a movie like that. The reason films end up stupid is because mostly stupid people see them and they need to be spoon fed things more complicated than they are willing to think about normally. This is why films like this win Oscars and get all the attention but more indie, complex, and ambiguous films, fade to nothingness ... because they require a fork and a knife to comprehend and not a baby spoon. @4 : i absolutely agree. Its good that this story is finally being told ... everyone has a windshield wiper and many people take for granted everything of convenience ... it will be interesting how people approach this film. "Its just a windshield wiper" ... well perhaps ... think about your life without it and then think about how it came to be created and all the loss and greed and hurt that came along with it. Everything has a price and everything effects someone ... somewhere ... including the wiper on your car. I think it will be good.
BE

It seems to me that the fact that this is about something as seemingly mundane as intermittent windshield wipers is taking away from the moral strength of this story. Had this been about a cancer-curing drug or some fantastic new energy source, people might feel that the inventor/discoverer was greater owed their dues. That unfortunately takes away from the hard work, creativity, and time that is often required to come up with even the simplest inventions. Large or small, nor corporation has the right to basically steal a design and then deny all credit or compensation to its creator, and to try to drown that creator in legal costs and court time when they in turn try to defend their intellectual and creative rights, well, that simply reeks. Shamefully, the practice of using the legal system to overwhelm claimaints continues, and by no means solely in the automotive industry. From what I've seen in the trailer, it looks like Mr. Kinnear has done a fine job of portraying this character and the real-life story of his pursuit of fairness and justice. Bravo! I look forward to seeing this film.
There is no moral strength

There is no moral strength to this story. It's the story of a man who broke himself to win money for an idea that was not really that innovative. He ruined his marriage, and did nothing else of value in his entire life. And from the sound of what I am able to find, the companies didn't "steal" on purpose from the guy. It was a natural advance that they came up with independently. And guess what? They had their own engineers/etc. who made it. What makes them less important than this Kearn guy? Just because they decided to have a corporate job? How many more innovations have they made that he never even thought of. I agree strongly with the notion that patents are basically a license to steal. Those that require millions or billions I can see some sense in supporting. Those that come randomly from a "flash of genius" I don't think are altogether great in the first place, and aren't nearly as brilliant as people like to think. I value consistent production and development much more than one useful invention in an entire lifetime. Strangely enough, most consistent production and development is done by corporations.
The Jury

The Jury has spoken. 5 trials, 5 jurys decided...Kearns invented it, it was novel, thieves have to pay for taking it. What planet are you from? As far as what else he did...whose navigation system allows cruise missiles to fly down chimneys, minimizing collateral damage?
Andria

I've never seen anyone climb the ladder of success and reach the top the way Greg Kinnear has. Not only one the most handsome men on Earth, he really is talented beyond belief. I love you Greg. Andria