Flash of Genius

It's as if Roger Ebert realized that even his three-star review of the movie Flash of Genius would not encourage more people to go see it. After all, it's about the inventor of the intermittent windshield wiper ("Can the life struggles of the discoverer of dental floss be far behind?" asks Ty Burr in the Boston Globe) and how Ford stole his invention. "I know that I sound just like a liberal, but at this point in history I am sick and tired of giant corporations running roughshod over decent people," Ebert writes. (But what does he think of the movie?) Likewise Stephen Holden of the New York Times, who does at least offer the opinion that the film "has the tone and texture of a well-made but forgettable television movie," concludes his review by remarking, "If we must have stories about heroic little guys going after bullies, maybe it's time for a true story of a shareholder in a bankrupt investment company suing its filthy rich chief executive for his golden parachute and winning. To be a true story, of course, it would have to happen." Several critics heap much praise on Greg Kinnear, who plays the inventor. But Michael O'Sullivan in the Washington Post notes, "You know what? Kinnear really doesn't have to work that hard. We love to see movies about little guys who take on the sharks and win. Come on, you didn't think this was a movie about the triumph of the soulless corporation, did you? They don't make too many like that."