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Blog.Wired.Com -
In a world where windshield wipers had just two settings -- on and off -- one man had the courage to add a third position to the stalk...
Universal has released the trailer for Flash of Genius, scheduled to debut October 3rd, and it saddens us to report it does not feature a voice-over by the late, great Don LaFontaine. That would have been just the touch of absurdity such a film deserved. After all, Flash of Genius tells the story of Dr. Robert Kearns, a college professor who invented the intermittent windshield wiper, only to see Ford Motor Co. steal the idea. It ain't exactly high-budget, big-explosions-with-car-chases Jerry Bruckheimer stuff.
Still, early reports suggest Flash might bring an Oscar to Greg Kinnear, who plays Kearns. The film "isn't a courtroom drama but a psychological one," says Cinematical's Eugene Novikov. "It's not about
the thrill of David taking on Goliath," he writes, "but the helplessness of being
pitted against an impersonal, uncaring foe with limitless time and
resources."
If this trend takes off, we can expect the plot of Die Hard 5 to revolve around Bruce Willis' buying a Sears-branded car battery and Nils I. Bohlin might finally get the biopic he so richly deserves. Based on a 1993 New Yorker profile by John Seabrook, Flash of Genius chronicles one of the most famous patent cases in modern history. Kearns patented his design for the intermittent wiper in 1967, only to see Ford steal the idea two years later. (Joseph Lucas didn't invent intermittent wipers, it just seems like it.) Kearns became obsessed with getting justice, leading to a nervous breakdown, great strain on his family and (SPOILER ALERT) a $30 million settlement from the automaker.
Co-starring Lauren Graham as Kearns' long-suffering wife, the film is a directorial debut for Marc Abraham who should be commended for selling such a story to skeptical studios that don't like anything that doesn't have a comic book hero or a Roman numeral in the title. At first glance, the story seems like perfect fodder for late night comics and immature bloggers, but Kinnear and Abraham saw a chance to examine the motivations and actions of a newsworthy everyman.
"This wasn?t like playing Nixon," Kinnear told Toronto's National Post, "in the sense that everybody
has a preconceived idea of the guy who invented the intermittent
windshield wiper." Abraham told the Post that he gave the film an intentional "greyness" to reflect the gloominess and hopelessness of much of Kearns' battle. "Life is like that," Abraham said. Even if it weren't for the glowing reviews, we'd still see Flash for all the 70s-era FoMoCo landau roofs and headlight covers.
Photo by flickr user akearns72
Greg Kinnear + Windshield Wipers = Oscar? | Autopia from Wired.com {...} In a world where windshield wipers had just two settings -- on and off -- one man had the courage to add a third position to the stalk... Universal has {...} Indexed: September 9, 2008, 9:56 pm - Page Size: 60KB |