Kinsey
| Year: | 2004 |
| Director: | Bill Condon |
| Writer: | Bill Condon |
| Cast: | Liam Neeson, Laura Linney, Chris O'Donnell, Peter Sargaard, Timothy Hutton, John Lithgow, Oliver Platt, Tim Curry |
Biopics are always interesting in that you never really know if you're getting the realstory. A filmmaker is unlikely to want to make a movie about someone of note unless a part of their work or character is something that filmmaker agrees with or wants to bring to people's notice. As the scholar said, there's my version, your version, the truth is usually somewhere in between.
Liam Neeson gives a great performance and the character of Kinsey matches his blend of innocence and confidence perfectly. We meet him as a lecturer in an American college doing groundbreaking work into wasps when he falls in love with student Clara.
When their marital bed turns out to be one of physical pain and frustration, Kinsey is astounded by how easy and yet how far from common knowledge the solution is.
So he amasses his small crowd of interviewers and embarks on his groundbreaking study across America during the 1950's.
The film deals more with the conflicts that arise within the group and in particularly Kinsey's marriage because of their extremely liberal views (it's close to high comedy to see a bunch of bow tie-wearing scientific types living like hippie flower children) than the fallout Kinsey suffered because of his work. He had a hard time finding funds to continue and continually battled conservative and moral groups, and we see the stresses of his work gradually driving him into the ground.
Whatever the resolution of the real Kinsey's life, not much is left for writer/director Condon in the way of an ending except for Kinsey to feel his love for Clara awaken as he gets a second wind on the verge of his subsequent study into women.
Some great talents collected together to tell about a very interesting life.
Liam Neeson gives a great performance and the character of Kinsey matches his blend of innocence and confidence perfectly. We meet him as a lecturer in an American college doing groundbreaking work into wasps when he falls in love with student Clara.
When their marital bed turns out to be one of physical pain and frustration, Kinsey is astounded by how easy and yet how far from common knowledge the solution is.
So he amasses his small crowd of interviewers and embarks on his groundbreaking study across America during the 1950's.
The film deals more with the conflicts that arise within the group and in particularly Kinsey's marriage because of their extremely liberal views (it's close to high comedy to see a bunch of bow tie-wearing scientific types living like hippie flower children) than the fallout Kinsey suffered because of his work. He had a hard time finding funds to continue and continually battled conservative and moral groups, and we see the stresses of his work gradually driving him into the ground.
Whatever the resolution of the real Kinsey's life, not much is left for writer/director Condon in the way of an ending except for Kinsey to feel his love for Clara awaken as he gets a second wind on the verge of his subsequent study into women.
Some great talents collected together to tell about a very interesting life.