Kinsey Review

If you don't know what Dr. Alfred Kinsey did, do a Google search on the name because I don't feel like typing it all out. (You'll never get that kind of up-front honesty from a Gene Shalit review, I assure you.) The film Kinsey, by director Bill Condon who did the fantastic Gods & Monsters back in 1998, takes a look at the doctor's struggle with opening people's minds to the idea of sexual independence and understanding. Kinsey was a man with tunnel vision; he was so focused on his research that he naturally treated everyone as test subjects, even the people closest to him. I read a quote somewhere that stated, "Alfred Kinsey studied human behavior but knew almost nothing about human nature." Ultimately, through much controversy, Kinsey managed to re-define what was thought of as 'normal sexual behavior' in America. He introduced the general public to the idea that sex often occurs out of wed-lock and that homosexuality is far more common than anyone previously thought. I'm purposely trying to remain vague here because I don't want to give away too many plot points of the movie. Liam Neeson, Laura Linney and Peter Sarsgaard are all fantastic in what could very well be Oscar-nominated performances for all three of them. Speaking of Oscars, it seems that Kinsey would be a shoe-in for a Best Picture nom this year. It's simply a very well put-together film through and through. Dr. Kinsey's struggles with morality couldn't be more timely with the current state of the country. I was left contemplating just how far we've come in the past 50 years. We are able to see endless streams of violence without batting an eye, but to see a breast or penis is almost unthinkable by a lot of people's standards. It seems apparent that we have fallen behind many other countries with accepting our own bodies along with sexual expression. I would love to hear Dr. Kinsey's interpretation of the Janet Jackson Super Bowl incident.

Torrey's Opinion:
5- Strongly Recommended
4- Recommended
3- A Mixed Bag
2- Sub-par
1- Don't Bother

Random Related Fact: The film, which had to cover the scope of Kinsey's 15 years of research along with the 18,000 interviews he gathered, was shot in only 37 days.