Kinsey Review
by Andrew Staker (mallowisious AT hotmail DOT com)January 26th, 2005
KINSEY
Bill Condon, the man who brought us Gods and Monsters in 1998 writes and directs this intelligent biopic of extraordinary American sex researcher Alfred "Prok" Kinsey. Liam Neeson convincingly portrays, in a manner reminiscent of James Mason's Humbert Humbert from Lolita (1962), the ever-curious intellectual whose frustration with the wilful ignorance of his fellow man explodes with his scientific yet controversial publications in 1940s USA.
Condon's film starts out in Kinsey's childhood, where an idyllic surrounding is polluted by his father's (John Lithgow, reprising his Footloose character) religious prudery. This Victorian view of the world stops making sense once young Alfred discovers logic and the scientific method. He eventually grows up and completes his PhD on an obscure fly, meeting his future wife Clara (a wonderful Laura Linney).
After an embarrassing first night, a trip to the sex therapist opens the way (as it were) to marital bliss. But the good Professor soon sees that numerous other couples are suffering from the same insecurities and so institutes a series of conjugal well-being classes. The astronomical popularity of these courses chafes some of the tighter collars around the university.
It is the scientific quest for answers that drives Kinsey into a nation-wide survey of people's sexual habits. Oral histories are taken and classified. Needless to say, chaos ensues once the first book, Sexual behavior in the human male, is released in 1948. The remainder of the film traces the man's terminal decline.
Kinsey is well researched and written, and realised fantastically, especially because of the quality of the actors. Peter Scarsgaard as the bisexual plaything of Kinseys is especially well cast... and apparently, his full-frontal striptease wasn't even in the script: it was his idea. At any rate, the moment Kinsey discovers his attraction to men is one of the most empathetic such scenes ever, mainly because, I think, he is a brilliant, articulate man left speechless by what lies before him: he must simply dive in!
There are also traces of humour along the way, which makes it only more enjoyable. Especially entertaining is the family discussion, where the two daughters speak very candidly (at least for the 1950s) about their intentions with their boyfriends. It's all a bit too much for the son, who storms off. More tragically, Kinsey senior reveals his motivation for fearing sexual contact and intimacy in a tensely poignant confrontation. This is a fantastic film that educates us all about one of the sources for our current way of life.
Andrew Staker
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
