Movie Reviews

Kerry Hayes/Universal Studio

Review in a Hurry: Greg Kinnear is Bob Kearns, the man who invented the intermittent windshield wiper. Boy, you know Hollywood's running out of biopic ideas when this is what they come up with.
 
The Bigger Picture: Kinnear appears determined to one day win an Oscar for playing troubled men named Bob. His turn as sex addict Bob Crane in Auto Focus didn't do it, so now he's trying again with the real-life tale of a man whose invention was stolen by the Ford motor company, and the subsequent battle that cost him nearly everything he had, financially, emotionally and mentally.
 
This is one of those movies where every so often, there'll be a fade-out and a title saying six months later and Kinnear shows up in grayer hair with a different bunch of actors playing his six children. Its tragedy-and-triumph arc is absolutely predictable, but inoffensive. If all you want is to see a movie about a regular Joe triumphing over an evil corporation, that and only that is what you'll get.
 
In actuality, Kearns' life didn't end quite so happily, but with his family serving as consultants on the movie, first-time director (but longtime producer) Marc Abraham is unsurprisingly unwilling to end on a downer. More problematic is his struggle to find a consistent tone. The movie sometimes feels like it wants to play up the absurd elements as comedy, à la Find Me Guilty, and at other moments aspires to being A Beautiful Mind Part II. Audiences will know when they are supposed to cheer, but it's unlikely they'll remember much about it a week later.
 
The 180—a Second Opinion: In the ongoing, eternal debate between truckers and rednecks as to the superiority of Ford or Chevy, this movie will be a big piece of ammunition for the Ford-haters.