“Flash of Genius”

There are lots of times in my life when I’ve heard the phrase, “it’s not about money, it’s about the principle.” That usually means it’s about the money. But “Flash of Genius” presents one of those instances when it really is about the principle. (At least as presented in the film.) This is the “true” story of Dr. Robert Kearns (Greg Kinnear), the electrical engineer and college professor from Detroit who invented the intermittent windshield wiper. His invention is so obvious, it’s surprising no one had thought of it before. Well, the Big Three had all thought of it. But none of them had, to use their term, “cracked it.” Engineers from Ford are amazed when they see the device work for the first time. Feeling leery, but advised that it would cement the deal, Kearns delivers a prototype to Ford’s engineers for testing. Then the company quietly abandons the project. This doesn’t make complete sense to Kearns, but he accepts it. Until he spots a new Ford with intermittent wipers on the road. From that moment on, Kearns’s sole mission in life is to right this wrong: to get Ford to recognize his patents, declare that he is the true creator of the intermittent wiper and admit they stole his invention. His business associates, friends and family plead with him to give it up and move on. But Kearns keeps pressing on, turning down Ford’s ever-growing settlement offers and losing almost everything, including his sanity, in the process. But in the end, Kearns gets what he wants when a jury declares him the victor in his suit against Ford. Intrigued by the story, I visited Wikipedia to do some “fact” checking and discovered that Kearns also sued Chrysler, GM, Mercedes-Benz and a host of other automakers. He was awarded somewhere in the vicinity of $40 million. So despite the protestations of the on-screen Kearns, maybe it was, at least in part, about the money. My tweet: Flash of Genius-Greg Kinnear invents the intermittent wiper & Detroit rips it off. Could their current hard times be the karmic boomerang? 7 (out of 10)

“Flash of Genius”

Released: 2008

Rating: PG-13

Length: 119 minutes

Cast: Greg Kinnear, Lauren Graham, Bill Smitrovich, Aaron Abrams, Dermot Mulroney

Director: Marc Abraham

Genre(s): Drama, Adaptation, Biopic

The Graduate: Here's to you, Dustin Hoffman

“The Graduate” is one of my all-time favorite movies and I've seen if more times than I can count. This time I made note of how brilliantly miscast Dustin Hoffman is as Benjamin Braddock. He’s a California native, but sounds like he was raised in New York. He doesn’t look like either one of his parents, William Daniels or Elizabeth Wilson. And he’s supposed to be a track star and “ladies man?” Director Mike Nichols took a tremendous leap of faith, because Dustin Hoffman is a disaster on paper. But on-screen he’s perfect. His fumbling responses to Mrs. Robinson’s (Anne Bancroft) seduction, the awkwardness of their first “meeting.” The way he tries to disgust daughter Elaine Robinson (Katharine Ross) on their first date only to apologize for his boorish behavior. His frenzied drive up and down the California coast as he tries to track her down and that final smile on the bus. The point is, there were a lot of actors in Hollywood who looked the part. (In fact, Robert Redford was originally considered.) But I can’t imagine anyone occupying it as well. My Tweet: The Graduate-Dustin Hoffman beds his father’s business partner’s wife and falls in love with their daughter. Then things get complicated. 10 (out of 10)

“The Graduate”

Released: 1967

Rating: PG

Length: 106 minutes

Cast: Anne Bancroft, Dustin Hoffman, Katharine Ross, William Daniels

Director: Mike Nichols

Genre(s): Drama, Adaptation, Comedy

“Terminator 2: Judgment Day”

It’s not often that a sequel surpasses the original, but James Cameron’s “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” certainly does. The reason is that Cameron wisely decided not to rehash the hugely successful Terminator movie. He turned his nascent franchise on its ear by making the original T-800 Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) this film’s hero. This T-800 is sent back from the future to protect the teenage John Conner (Edward Furlong) from the shape-shifting T-1000 (Robert Patrick). In the process of rescuing mom Sarah Conner (Linda Hamilton) from a mental hospital and convincing Cyberdyne’s lead inventor Miles Dyson (Joe Morton) to destroy his work, the T-800 and John, forge an unlikely friendship. It almost takes on the air of a buddy film with John teaching the socially-awkward Terminator (He is an android, after all.) catchphrases like “Hasta la vista, baby” while the T-800 becomes the father figure John’s never had. Robert Patrick’s T-1000 is imposing because of his dogged determination and the serious expression he maintains throughout the film (Android, again). And the special effects still stand up today. There’s a sequel (a lackluster retread of this story, wisely not directed by Cameron) so you know that judgment day will still arrive. But that shouldn’t spoil the enjoyment of watching John, Sarah and the Terminator trying to keep the future from happening. My tweet about the Terminator turned Governor: Terminator 2: Judgment Day-Cyborg Arnold Schwarzenegger finds Robert Patrick’s T-1000 almost as challenging as the California legislature. 8.5 (out of 10)

“Terminator 2: Judgment Day”

Released: 1991

Rating: R

Length: 139 minutes

Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Robert Patrick, Edward Furlong

Director: James Cameron

Genre(s): Sequel, Action, Thriller