Flash of Genius

Greg Kinnear stars in director Marc Abraham's man-against-the-system docudrama Flash of Genius as inventor Robert Kearns, the visionary who developed the modern intermittent windshield wiper. Kearns submitted the invention to each of the big three auto companies, each of which promptly rejected it; ...more

The subject of intermittent windshield wipers isn't inherently riveting. That is, unless you're Dr. Robert Kearns, the central character of Flash of Genius. Kearns engineered the then-innovative wipers, only to be unceremoniously bent over by the corporate machine and denied the credit, patent, and wealth that came with the invention. Ford Motor Corporation steals his idea after agreeing to partner with him. Kearns is brainy sans cojones or the wherewithal to wage war against a corporate giant, ...more

One could easily foresee Hollywood shoehorning the tale of Dr. Bob Kearns, maverick inventor of the intermittent windshield wiper, into a conventional mold as the ultimate underdog story, given Kearns' court-validated insistence that he was bilked by the Ford Motor Company out of several patents and a colossal fortune. And that's probably why Universal greenlit the project. But in adapting this material for the screen as a feature drama, scenarist Phillip Railsback (who adapted John Seabrook's ...more