Kinsey
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Movie Reviews of Kinsey
Movie Review: Exceptional cast fleshes out a rather slim story
Summary: 4 Stars
Of all the films coming out this holiday movie season, KINSEY was near the top of my list. Despite an absolutely superb cast, I have to confess that I found this film someone disappointing. The truth is that there simply wasn't a lot of story to tell, or at least not a lot if you were already familiar with Alfred Kinsey's story. Briefly, Kinsey achieved fame as an entomologist who accidentally became the first American sex researcher. Many on the regressive side of the cultural wars focus on him as a satanic figure, but most people are going to view him as an important figure in pulling American attitudes and knowledge of sex out of the Victorian period. The film does a good job of hinting at the degree of ignorance about sex that existed in many places even in mid-century (reminding one of Virginia Woolf's comments a few decades earlier of an incident in one of E. M. Forster's novels -- Woolf expressed doubt as to whether Mr. Forster was acquainted with the facts of life, since she was uncertain whether one character became pregnant from a male character or his umbrella). It would be hard to argue that the ignorance that existed did a great deal of harm. Kinsey's achievement was to bring sex into the realm of public discussion and assess it scientifically through a massive accumulation of information acquired through face to face interviews. Historically, his main achievement was in originating the social scientific study of sex, though his work has been entirely superceded by other researchers. Most view his methodology as hopelessly flawed, for instance including a vast number of interviews with incarcerated individuals, which unquestionably skewed the overall figures in ways that didn't represent the populace as a whole. Nonetheless, Kinsey was pivotal in moving the discussion of sex from the realm of morals to that of the laboratory. Anyone wanting a very brief but excellent account of Kinsey's career can find a succint one in the relevant chapter in David Halberstam's THE FIFTIES.
Alongside this story of Kinsey's study of sex is the story of the main characters own struggle with their sexuality, something that threatened the separation between his private and personal life. Kinsey ends up not only experimenting with his own sexuality, but encourages his wife and his colleagues and their wives to do so as well. This part of the film reveals the naiveté of much of their personal activity and the self-serving nature of much of their research.
If anything, the film understates the turmoil Kinsey's work threw America into, though it does correctly record that while his first book on male sexuality did indeed create a sensation, it was his second book on female sexuality that created a massive reaction on the part of his critics.
The problem is that most of this lacks a great deal of narrative tension and the filmmakers did not manage to transcend the material. While they do a great job of creating a period feel and bringing forth many of the big issues of the day, the outlines of the story are easy to state briefly. In other words, the Kinsey story is interesting up to a point, but only up to that point. The cast does its best, with Liam Neeson almost certain to get an Oscar nomination for the title role. Laura Linney, an immensely talented actress who has never gotten as many prominent roles as I would have liked, delivered an equally nuanced performance as Kinsey's wife. The cast was rounded out by a talented group, though one of my favorites, Oliver Platt, gets only a straightforward role that gives him no room to expand.
Except for those who are easily offended by rather graphic sexual content, I can definitely recommend this film, but I do not do so with a red hot passion. It is a good, but certainly not great film on an interesting, but not quite fascinating, moment in American history.
Movie Review: Puritan America's sexual awakening through Kinsey...
Summary: 4 Stars
It never occurred to me that watching a film about Dr. Kinsey would be like watching a dry documentary about a fascinating subject. That's the impression one can get from the opening scenes--but fortunately, the film improves as it goes on.
The film is structured as a series of vignettes based on the sort of questions that were posed in the Kinsey Report which was widely read and published in the '50s--and to some degree it works. We see how Kinsey himself came to regard sex and the study of it.
JOHN LITHGOW is his puritan, uptight father ("The decline of the Roman Empire was due to too frequent use of bathing"), revealed through questions posed by CHRIS O'DONNELL and TIMOTHY HUTTON as Kinsey workers being trained to ask the probing questions. LIAM NEESON has the title role as the professor with the bold teaching methods unafraid to talk about sex. LAURA LINNEY is the forthright student who encounters Kinsey at college and forms a relationship with him. She's a brilliant scholar, a free thinker with a profound love of nature.
Unfortunately, watching some of the scenes unfold are like watching paint dry despite sincere performances by Neeson and Linney who hold the story together. The first awkward sexual experience between Neeson and Linney in marriage is almost painfully awkward and unsettling to watch. We realize while watching the early portions of the film that we were really in the dark about sexuality until Kinsey boldly brought forth talk about masturbation, homosexuality, oral sex, etc., which all were taboo subjects that kept everyone in the dark until his study was released.
Despite all the graphic sex talk, the film itself manages to be rather more dry than might be expected--and preachy, at that, when dealing with the regulations that governed sexual conduct in the 1950s and long before we treated sex as candidly as we do today in the media.
But it has to be commended for making a strong point about raising a significant question: What is normal? Until "The Kinsey Report" came out, nobody had the foggiest idea, so enormous was his contribution. Everybody read the report to find out if they were normal! We've come a long way since then. There's a lot to be said for the kind of enlightenment that came with "the report" that took most Americans out of the dark ages.
But oddly enough, with all the sex talk, the film is largely non-stimulating. Too bad there weren't more scenes like the one between JOHN LITHGOW and LIAM NEESON when Neeson convinces his father to be a subject for his report. OLIVIER PLATT gives a good performance as a fellow scientist and all of the supporting roles are well played by a fine cast. Nice work by LYNN REDGRAVE as a woman who, thanks to Kinsey, realizes she's not the only woman in the world to experience Lesbian tendencies and find fulfillment with a woman. And PETER SARSGAARD is wonderful as the bisexual who shares a torrid kissing scene with Neeson.
Summing up: Uneven film has many moments of truth leading up to publication of "Sexual Behavior in the Human Male"--and later, an equally well read study of the female--which became huge best-sellers and delivered a lot of folks from a life of ignorance about a topic dearest to their hearts.
Movie Review: Lets Talk About One Great Movie
Summary: 4 Stars
A strange thing happened as I watched Bill Condon's "Kinsey". The audience laughed at some of the characters fears of sex like "does kissing cause pregnancy?" And the limits society placed on the discussion of sex. Soon I thought, we have been having the same argument in this country for 50 years. Sure, in some cases things have gotten better, attitudes have become more relaxed but the issue of sex education in school is still a hot topic. For instance our current administration believes in teaching abstinence.
And that's what "Kinsey" is all about. The danger of ingnorance. Don't be deluded, ignornace is not always bliss. It's harmful when your not informed, whatever the subject.
This is what makes "Kinsey" a richly compelling and complex film. It seems to be hitting you from all sides. But perhaps my interrpretation of the film will lead you to believe this is a heavy handed "message" movie, and your not in the mood for that on a Friday night. Don't worry. "Kinsey" is extremely entertaining. It has moments of wit and humanity. It recreates not just visually the 1950s, but the emotionally as well. It gets into the mindset of the times, it is not an embellishment. Things were perceived the way they are presented in this film. America was going through a conservative revolution, sound familiar?
The performances are convincing as well. I think Liam Neeson delivers Oscar caliber work. It's one of the best male performances of the year. And Laura Linney, an actress I regard as one of our best, delivers an equally satisfying and commanding performance. The two of them play off each other so well, we believe them to be a real couple. I would be greatly disappointed is the film is not up for best picture, actor, supporting actress and screenplay.
The role of Alfred Kinsey is such a complex character. For a man who dealt with people he seemed to know nothing about them. He treated them as "experiments" but never as humans. This of course lead into his home life. And yet Neeson is able to capture this complexity so effortlessly.
The film has a couple of flaws. It abandons further development between Kinsey's father and himself right when things were getting interesting. And avoids details about Kinsey's relationship with his son. Kinsey seems to put a great deal of pressure on his son, which I'm sure Freud would say leads back to Kinsey's relationship with his father.
Also the film's end seems a bit disappointing. It's anti-climatic. Usually in films such as these we see the hero make some speech about their importance. It's their moment of fighting back. They have their chin up and usually win the fight of the day. "Kinsey" takes a different approach.
Most importantly though, what makes a movie such as 'Kinsey" work so well is the fact the film still remains relevant. It is still of topic that can push people's buttons. Sometimes the best films do just that, and sometimes people need their buttons pushed.
Bottom-line: Richly compelling and complex film that still remains relevant. Standout performances from Neeson and Linney mixed with a sharp script makes this one of the year's best films.
Movie Review: Kinsey - great entertainment!
Summary: 4 Stars
Last year, I skipped the movie about pioneer sex researcher, Alfred Kinsey, because I thought that I already knew everything about him and that it might be dry. Was I ever wrong! The dialogue in the movie was crisp and unexpectedly funny and the acting was stellar. (What else could be expected from Liam Neeson, Chris O'Donnel and Laura Linney?)
The movie traced the puritanical and oppressive upbringing that poor Kinsey endured as a boy who was born in 1894 and raised by a fire and brimstone, preacher father. Those were the days when no one talked about [...] and it was widely thought to cause blindness or insanity; oral sex was feared in the event that it resulted in infertility; and no one knew a [..] from a clavicle!
Kinsey was one of the first to break down those barriers in the 1920s and 1930s. He started classes at university for young couples who were about to get married in order to give them proper sex education, rather than the abstinence message that they had been receiving in their hygiene class.
He interviewed 18,000 people and wrote books about his findings, for which he was widely criticized because what he found was that there was a large disconnect between what people said was "moral" sexual behavior, and what they actually practiced behind closed doors. Moreover, he stated that "37 percent of U.S. men (and 13 percent of women) had had at least one homosexual experience, while 62 percent of women (and 92 percent of men) masturbated. Premarital sex was common. Half of married
men and a quarter of married women had cheated on their spouses." [Source -- National Geographic News]
In addition, Kinsey concluded that the majority of people were bisexual. This was during an era when adultery, homosexuality and oral sex were illegal in many states!
Kinsey had two great failings: firstly, as a zoologist, he could never understand that the human mammal with different from other animals. Humans had feelings that were intricately tied to their sexuality.
Animals did not. Secondly, Kinsey's research methodology was questioned by many sources as being skewed and lacking objectivity. He interviewed most of his people face-to-face and then transcribed his findings. At least one quarter of his subjects were prison inmates, 5% were male prostitutes and they were all volunteers. A good research design should have a randomized study, preferably double blind so that the researcher and his assistants did not directly interpret data from subjects in order to avoid potential bias on their parts.
The movie clearly discussed Kinsey's first failing but was not explicit enough about the second one regarding research methodology.
Having said that, Alfred Kinsey was an amazing man and this is an awesome movie. Great entertainment and it made me feel that despite our cultural ambivalence about sex, we definitely have come a long way, baby.
Sigrid Mac
Movie Review: A Surprising Love Story
Summary: 4 Stars
I was prepared to have my negative feelings about Kinsey confirmed in this movie. I'd heard that he took a cold accounting approach to his sex studies, that he had basically been a taxonomist/entomologist who had transferred his skills at categorizing and dissecting insects (specifically gall wasps) to tallying human behavior. But this movie introduced me to someone a lot more sympathetic, innocent, and complicated than that. It introduced me to someone never quite in on the joke.
The film does inform viewers about Kinsey's working methods and the dynamics of his relationship with the graduate students he recruited to help with the burgeoning workload as he sought to interview a huge cross-section of the American population about their sexual habits and preferences. It shows how he attempted to train his associates in impassive objectivity, so as not to frighten any of their interview subjects into falsifications.
I would like to have learned more about how Kinsey translated the sometimes almost stream-of-consciousness reflections he elicited from study subjects (including one particularly repulsive, absolutely unrepentant pedophile) - into the crisp numeric tallies on his sheets of paper. But perhaps such details of his study are best left to documentaries about his life.
This movie wasn't meant to be a documentary. It was meant to provide some emotional insight into the man himself. The heart of the movie is his relationship with his wife, and the heart of that relationship is Laura Linney's portrayal of Clara. They had an unconventional romance from the start. One of the most touching scenes shows Kinsey celebrating Clara by giving her a clumpy pair of walking shoes. She greets these with sincere pleasure. She shines in anticipation of all the places they can tramp together, with her in such a "sensible" pair of shoes.
The movie proceeds to take us through some of the ups and downs of their open marriage. Kinsey is a pioneer in equality, wondering why his wife isn't getting as much pleasure out of their sexual relationship as he is - a question few husbands in that era would even think to ask. He sets out to investigate the process of pleasure scientifically and to set things right. As their marriage matures, Kinsey has his affairs - with both men and women. Then when Clara decides she might like to try an outside adventure on her own - the play of subtle emotions on the actors' faces tells a story in itself.
Those shoes come to represent their relationship throughout their lives - through their accommodations with each other, through their estrangements, through their essential affection for each other. In the end, as in the beginning, they enjoy their explorations together, in sensible shoes.
This movie will take you in unexpected directions.