When it comes to love, we are all in the dark
Added 10/20/2009
Liam Neeson and Laura Linney are superb as Alfred Kinsey and Claire McMillen, a scientist and his understanding wife. Though Alfred Kinsey was a brilliant scientist who collected and catalogued thousands of gall wasps, and wasn't too shabby on the piano, either, even the smartest people have blind spots. One of his was that he couldn't accept that his son was more interested in athletics than science, and he was repeating the pattern of his own father, who also tried to force him into a mold that he didn't fit. Mac, his wife, played by Laura Linney, could see this plainly, as well as many other quirks and blind spots, but she loved him just the same. For instance, when he turned his attention from wasps to human sexuality she could see that the reaction of society at large would make things very difficult, but she stood by him nevertheless. Linney is very good at playing the understanding wife, as her performance as Abigail Adams in John Adams adamantly demonstrates.
"Kinsey" paints a portrait of a scientist, and it also places him in an historical context that shows how his groundbreaking work changed things forever. Kinsey thought he was a rational scientist who just wanted to measure and record things, but with a subject like human sexuality he was opening a Pandora's Box that would have a devastating effect on him, his family, and his colleagues on the project; not to mention the country, and the whole world. Such a provocative subject made for a fascinating film.
Along with the excellent performances by the two leads there was ample support from John Lithgow, as Kinsey's father; and Tim Curry, who played Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the cult film "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" in an ironic twist, as a priggish professor who undercuts the progressive ideas of Kinsey at every opportunity. Oliver Platt plays a more supportive faculty member. Peter Sarsgaard, Timothy Hutton, and Chris O'Donnell play research assistants who can't help but bring their work home on occasion.
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Alfred Kinsey: Mac, did I ever tell you about the Mbeere?
Clara McMillen: No, not that I recall.
Alfred Kinsey: They're an ancient East African tribe. They believe that trees are imperfect men... eternally bemoaning their imprisonment. The roots that keep them stuck in one place. But I've never seen a discontented tree. Look at this one! The way its roots are gripping the ground. I believe it really loves it.
=====================
Ah, sweet mystery of life. I wonder what Alfred Kinsey would have thought of this film. I'll bet you that he would have liked it, especially the performances of Liam Neeson and Laura Linney.
----------------------
Reporter: Any plans on a Hollywood picture based on the book?
Alfred Kinsey: I can't think of anything more pointless.
================================
Jindabyne (2006) Laura Linney was Claire
The Squid and the Whale (Special Edition) (2005) Laura Linney was Joan Berkman
Beautiful Girls (1996) Timothy Hutton was Willie Conway
Nell (1994) Liam Neeson was Jerome Lovell
Indecent Proposal (1993) Oliver Platt was Jeremy
Scent of a Woman (1992) Chris O'Donnell was Charlie Simms
Postcards from the Edge (1990) Oliver Platt was Neil Bleene
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension (1984) John Lithgow was Lord John Whorfin / Dr. Emilio Lizardo
Footloose (1984) John Lithgow was Reverend Shaw Moore
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Widescreen Edition) (1975) Tim Curry was Dr. Frank-N-Furter - A Scientist
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Alfred Kinsey: When it comes to love, we are all in the dark.
===================================
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A Pretty Big Shock
Added 9/23/2009
I originally only saw this movie because I love Liam Neeson, but it turned out to be really great. It was very informational and educational, but at the same time--I know it was heavily biased information, though it still provided a great background for my Psychology class. It was really well done and even though the subject matter was quite...*clears throat*...unconventional, I still give it 5 stars.
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Great Seller...really
Added 9/11/2009
Great seller, Shipped and arrived on time as described, doing business was a pleasure and I dont say this just because...I say it because you are a great person to buy from.
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Much better than I expected
Added 7/30/2009
Just for "truth in reviewing," I have to state that Kinsey has always been one of my heroes, just as he was a hero to the final interviewee in the film, who blessed him for saving her life. Even while I was a teenager, Kinsey's "Sexual Behavior in the Human Male" was on my bookshelf, and had pride of place.
Over the years, details about the man himself have become more public, and it becomes clear that Kinsey was (surprise!) not actually a perfect human being. Well, my own search for one of those still continues. :-)
It should not be surprising to learn that Kinsey was a driven man ("relentless"). He was a workaholic. Before even beginning his research into sex, he collected a MILLION specimens of the gall-wasp, and made his reputation as a biologist. Something else the film pays little attention to: he wrote one of the standard college textbooks on biology, which sold very well for decades and made him a much more independent man.
I'm not sure that the film deals completely with Kinsey's apparent awakening to his own homosexuality. But it certainly does not skate over this interesting fact.
Kinsey's sexual orientation was not his fatal flaw, in my opinion. That flaw may be summed up in one simple sentence: "I can live without sex, but I can't live without love." Kinsey was a man of his times, and so he was a behaviorist. He refused to deal with love, because he couldn't measure it. (And there's a nice question: how indeed can you measure the infinite?) So Kinsey collected samples, and counted. His entire research on one human being was reduced to one Hollerith card (AKA "IBM punch card," something which I believe no longer exists).
But still --- the man was not a devil; he was basically a worker-bee. Who else could have produced his two monumental works on "Sexual Behavior in the Human Male" and "Sexual Behavior in the Human Female?" Mistitled works, though: they should have been called "Sexual Behavior in the White American Male" and "Sexual Behavior in the White American Female."
All of this complexity is on view in this film, which really surprised me. The film avoids painting Kinsey as a Great Liberator, and it also avoids painting him as a Great Satan. What he was is quite obvious: a man who did objective research into things which had previously been unmentionable in Puritan America.
An excellent movie!
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A good Film With Few Flaws
Added 5/16/2009
The story of Alfred Kinsey and his reports on human sexuality is difficult to comprehend, but director Bill Condon does a great job trying to explain it all. While leaving a few questions unanswered, it is for the most part an excellent film with an excellent cast.
The film portrays Kinsey as an authority on sex, but there is no indication on HOW he became an expert. Suddenly he is giving sexual advice to students and the audience is left to ask how this occurred. And closely related to this enigma is why did people believe his background in biology qualified him for the psychological aspects of sexual relations? The film on occasion broaches this subject by a character asking of his qualifications, and we are led to believe that his knowledge of biology suffices...which is patently nonsensical. While sex is a biologic function, it also is a deeply-rooted emotional one; and gathering data to prove WHAT people do in bed doesn't help explain WHY people do the things they do in bed.
The film, however, brilliantly explores the fact that society became conditioned to believe that sex for any purpose other than reproduction was prurient. Kinsey proved the hypocrisy of American society by showing that a great percentage of Americans...both male and female...were doing all of the things society wasn't supposed to discuss.
Conversely, the film shows the inherent problem of relegating sex exclusively to its biology and ignoring the psychology of it by portraying Kinsey's researchers as being immune to the privacy of sex. They boorishly discuss sexual acts in public and (even more boorishly), discuss with others the intimate details of their own sex lives, often with their wives present.
The film (being a product of the 21st century) portrays those who disagreed with Kinsey as puritanical prudes. This is an unfair judgement. Many people found Kinsey's means of gathering data faulty, expecially when that data dealt with pedophiles. Also, many believed his credentials did not qualify him for such research.
It makes for an excellent story despite the several flaws. For those weak of stomach on sexual matters, you might want to pass this one up for a Disney flick.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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When it comes to love, we are all in the dark
Added 10/20/2009
Liam Neeson and Laura Linney are superb as Alfred Kinsey and Claire McMillen, a scientist and his understanding wife. Though Alfred Kinsey was a brilliant scientist who collected and catalogued thousands of gall wasps, and wasn't too shabby on the piano, either, even the smartest people have blind spots. One of his was that he couldn't accept that his son was more interested in athletics than science, and he was repeating the pattern of his own father, who also tried to force him into a mold that he didn't fit. Mac, his wife, played by Laura Linney, could see this plainly, as well as many other quirks and blind spots, but she loved him just the same. For instance, when he turned his attention from wasps to human sexuality she could see that the reaction of society at large would make things very difficult, but she stood by him nevertheless. Linney is very good at playing the understanding wife, as her performance as Abigail Adams in John Adams adamantly demonstrates.
"Kinsey" paints a portrait of a scientist, and it also places him in an historical context that shows how his groundbreaking work changed things forever. Kinsey thought he was a rational scientist who just wanted to measure and record things, but with a subject like human sexuality he was opening a Pandora's Box that would have a devastating effect on him, his family, and his colleagues on the project; not to mention the country, and the whole world. Such a provocative subject made for a fascinating film.
Along with the excellent performances by the two leads there was ample support from John Lithgow, as Kinsey's father; and Tim Curry, who played Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the cult film "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" in an ironic twist, as a priggish professor who undercuts the progressive ideas of Kinsey at every opportunity. Oliver Platt plays a more supportive faculty member. Peter Sarsgaard, Timothy Hutton, and Chris O'Donnell play research assistants who can't help but bring their work home on occasion.
----------
Alfred Kinsey: Mac, did I ever tell you about the Mbeere?
Clara McMillen: No, not that I recall.
Alfred Kinsey: They're an ancient East African tribe. They believe that trees are imperfect men... eternally bemoaning their imprisonment. The roots that keep them stuck in one place. But I've never seen a discontented tree. Look at this one! The way its roots are gripping the ground. I believe it really loves it.
=====================
Ah, sweet mystery of life. I wonder what Alfred Kinsey would have thought of this film. I'll bet you that he would have liked it, especially the performances of Liam Neeson and Laura Linney.
----------------------
Reporter: Any plans on a Hollywood picture based on the book?
Alfred Kinsey: I can't think of anything more pointless.
================================
Jindabyne (2006) Laura Linney was Claire
The Squid and the Whale (Special Edition) (2005) Laura Linney was Joan Berkman
Beautiful Girls (1996) Timothy Hutton was Willie Conway
Nell (1994) Liam Neeson was Jerome Lovell
Indecent Proposal (1993) Oliver Platt was Jeremy
Scent of a Woman (1992) Chris O'Donnell was Charlie Simms
Postcards from the Edge (1990) Oliver Platt was Neil Bleene
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension (1984) John Lithgow was Lord John Whorfin / Dr. Emilio Lizardo
Footloose (1984) John Lithgow was Reverend Shaw Moore
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Widescreen Edition) (1975) Tim Curry was Dr. Frank-N-Furter - A Scientist
----------------------------
Alfred Kinsey: When it comes to love, we are all in the dark.
===================================
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
A Pretty Big Shock
Added 9/23/2009
I originally only saw this movie because I love Liam Neeson, but it turned out to be really great. It was very informational and educational, but at the same time--I know it was heavily biased information, though it still provided a great background for my Psychology class. It was really well done and even though the subject matter was quite...*clears throat*...unconventional, I still give it 5 stars.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Great Seller...really
Added 9/11/2009
Great seller, Shipped and arrived on time as described, doing business was a pleasure and I dont say this just because...I say it because you are a great person to buy from.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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