Day Seventy-One: Kinsey

KINSEY

Starring:
-Liam Neeson
-Laura Linney
-Peter Sarsgaard
-Timothy Hutton

Written & Directed by: Bill Condon

MPAA Rating: R -don’t ever bring the kiddies to this one


I wouldn’t say that this is a strange film, but it certainly is a very strange story. KINSEY is based on the real life professor Alfred Kinsey, who infamously conducted highly personal sex surveys across the United States. Professor Kinsey surveyed any and all who would allow him, including sex criminals and pedophiles. He made no attempts to judge people, wanting only to document their responses for the sake of his research.

I would say on the whole that his motives were right. There is no excuse for people to be uneducated. Still, the no consequences, free love, why don’t we get drunk and screw, flippant attitude he develops over the course of the film is equal parts disturbing and disgusting.

Still, I am here to review the movie, not the man.

While Laura Linney gives a good performance, Liam Neeson failed to impress. He’s still a charming performer, and parts of his characterization were spot on (like the scenes where he’s giving lectures or meeting with students), but other moments felt disingenuous to me, and pulled me out of the film.

This has precious little to do with the quality of the movie, but Peter Sarsgaard always looks sleepy to me. It’s like he needs somebody to poke him. Plus he always makes me think of that SNL skit with the pirates: “Peter Saaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrsgaaaaaaaaaaaaaaard!”

Another side note – Timothy Hutton is absolutely perfect with the slimeball roles. It makes me think that he may be a bit of a creeper in real life. I mean, nobody’s THAT convincingly creepy, right?


FINAL GRADE: B-

Off in search of the episode of I LOVE LUCY that briefly alludes to the Kinsey Report,

M.