Kinsey

[Ben Varkentine]

It may not be surprising that for a biopic of a sex researcher, Kinsey is not a very sexy movie. Its attitude towards the subject is apparently much like the man's: Almost entirely scientific.



What comes as more of a surprise is how funny the movie is, mostly when we're confronted with the backwards attitudes towards sex and sexuality of previous generations. As I was walking to my car afterward I heard a woman tell a friend that she thought we were headed that way again; certainly it seems that will happen if most republicans have their way.



Perhaps I'm too "reality-based," but it seems to me naught but a minority could disagree that Kinsey's research was beneficial to people all across the spectrum. Still, it will be interesting to see how this picture plays in the "red states" that are on everybody's lips these days.



An especially strong supporting cast led by Laura Linney is fine, but it's Liam Neeson's movie. Showing us the emotional inner life of a man not in touch with those emotions may be a defining moment for any actor, and Neeson meets the challenge with an assured touch.



Also, maybe only a "Kitten" would think of this, or maybe it's only me. But at the end of the movie (and I'm giving nothing away by revealing this, trust me), there is an appearance by Lynn Redgrave as an elderly lesbian woman. As she speaks of finding her one true love and soul mate...I swear there were a couple of moments where it could have been Willow as an old woman. Speaking about Tara. But again, that might just have been me.



Anyway, "Kinsey" is a good movie. And it's pissing off the conservative groups something awful:



www.miami.com/mld/miamihe...424.htm?1c



That's half the reason to see it right there.

Ben



"One voice is easily ignored or silenced, but when other people add their voices to yours, you become a chorus not easily ignored."--Wil "Just A Geek" Wheaton

[skittles]

I saw this last night.



It is really good. It gives a "scientific" approach, as BenV said, but somethings were still a little surprising....



and I wouldn't really call it scientific as comfortable.... just as the movie makes clear that talking with Kinsey is comfortable, the movie does the same thing. If that is from the scientific approach, that's good.



Liam Neeson. Don't like the man. I couldn't get away from the fact that it was Liam playing Kinsey. I couldn't "suspend disbelief" and see him as Kinsey.... it was always Liam playing Kinsey, not just Kinsey. He's a good actor and he did a good job, but I couldn't get past that point.



And, yes, the Lynn Regrave bit at the end is good... both to see her & her performance.

skittles



"The problem with political jokes is how often they get elected."



"Closed minds always seem to be connected to open mouths"

[Gatito Grande]

[skittles, I never asked you exactly what it is about LN that you don't like---you can say here, or not, as you see fit]



I was a little put off by the film's chronology, at first: Boom! We're on (that could, in part, be due to the fact that the State Theater in Ann Arbor for some reason showed NO previews. WTF?). But then, the fact that "ProK"'s backstory is revealed ala one of his sexual history interviews, seemed entirely appropriate.



I've heard some of the Kinsey story before (but not that much). What w/ the dramatic license, also, I'm not quite sure *exactly* what's fact, and what's fiction. I knew that Kinsey was Bi, and that there was various sorts of "fraternization" amongst the Kinsey staff (and spouses). That said, I have to say that Peter Sarsgaard's character of (IIRC) "Clyde Martin" just seems unbelievable (but again, maybe he's 100% factual, I don't know). It's one thing to contemplate a "Kinsey 3" guy in the 1940s (or does he go as far back as the 30s?). It's another to imagine that some young American college guy is as relaxed and comfortable w/ himself as a bisexual in the 40s! (but maybe that's just my own wounds from homophobia talking )



I have to say, while I admire Laura Linney's performance no end (she was nominated for Best Supporting, right?), I was nevertheless (shallowly) disappointed that she stayed "ProK's plain wife" throughout. Good lord, she's a hottie! (But you'd never know it, the way they kept her in drab fashions and hair. Only when her trademark dimples made an infrequent appearance, could I see the woman I've lusted after for 5 years or so)



Did the movie fudge Kinsey's morality? Hmmm: it's hard for me to say. Certainly, the movie seemed to suggest that Prok and Mac moved to a happily open marriage (FWIW, Yours Truly's essential inability to "get" non-monogamy, impairs my critical POV here). While there were glimpses of the role of prison interviews in his research (not just "sex offenders," though they got the Biggest Stink), it isn't a major point of discussion (the one pedophile guy gets a colorful scene, but it seems to serve more to show that Kinsey could still display moral judgment---even if he wouldn't let that judgment get in the way of his scientific method---than to show possible problems w/ Kinsey's sample population).



The long and the short of it (both are statistically normal! ): a very good movie (Laura L, please stay a blonde, and wear sexy clothes! )



GG John Lithgow was great as Kinsey's dad! And their final scene together---where the son could begin to have compassion for his father---was very touching (but only touching in a good way! ) Out



Lynn Redgrave's bit was the perfect lil "seal of approval" to Kinsey and his life's work: by showing us how we were all unique he also, ironically, showed why no one need be alone. Thanks, ProK!



(But I did miss an "epilogue" at the end: something about his demise in the Gay Underground in Rome? )