For a nation that's capitalized on the age-old notion that "sex sells," America is surprisingly prudent when it comes to talking about the act. While it obviously occurs in abundance -- thus the various baby boom eras and continually growing population -- and permeates the media, advertising and many other aspects of everyday life, many people are uncomfortable admitting that they or others have it, let along might have problems or any sort of what they might think is unusual behavior regarding it.
You can only imagine then what it was like half a century ago when sex researcher Alfred Kinsey released his reports on male and female sexuality. Scientific, yet highly sensational in the public eye, the works -- released in 1948 and 1953 -- became bestsellers but generated all sorts of controversy and protests.
That and other aspects of Kinsey's research, work and life are addressed in "Kinsey," a biopic that's already generated plenty of controversy on its own, although that's probably far more with special interest groups rather than the population as a whole that now tolerates, accepts and/or enjoys the level of sexuality common in today's culture. I won't delve into the historical accuracy of what's on display, but will rather only address how the effort works from an artistic standpoint. One must remember that a film shouldn't be judged by what it's about, but rather how it tells its story about its subject matter and characters.
As written and directed by Bill Condon who previously helmed the fabulous "Gods and Monsters," the film is intriguing, captivating and rather well-made, although its subject matter means it's for adults only and specifically those who won't mind the explicit but not particularly erotic material.
Like most any biopic, the film concentrates on a finite number of years in its subject's life, although various flashbacks are present to show some of Kinsey's earlier years and formative experiences. Most of those involve John Lithgow ("A Civil Action," "Cliffhanger") as his fire and brimstone preacher father, although that -- truthful or not -- means that character obviously has some skeletons in his closet that dictate such behavior.
Compared to other such films, this one doesn't feel terribly episodic or fractured, and Condon uses a brilliant bit of filmmaking to get the necessary exposition out of the way. As the title subject trains one of his researchers how to interview men and women about their lives and sexual activity, Kinsey serves as a test subject. His responses and the way he answers the questions tell us almost everything we need to know about the man in just a few short minutes.
The rest is exposed and expanded upon by Liam Neeson ("Love Actually," "Schindler's List") who plays the famous/infamous researcher. While certainly not a sympathetic character, Kinsey -- at least as portrayed by Neeson -- was compelling and the actor gives him all of the right nuances to make us believe he's the real deal.
Laura Linney ("Love Actually," "You Can Count on Me") earned an Oscar nomination playing his wife and former student who must not only deal with his work and its repercussions, but also its effects on her and their unique marital arrangement. Peter Sarsgaard ("Shattered Glass," "Boys Don't Cry") delivers a good performance as the research assistant who ends up having flings with Mr. and Mrs. Kinsey, while the film is chock-full of other good or at least notable performers.
Yet, the likes of Timothy Hutton ("Secret Window," "Ordinary People"), Oliver Platt ("Pieces of April," "Bullworth"), Tim Curry ("Charlie's Angels," "The Rocky Horror Picture Show") and Chris O'Donnell ("The Bachelor," "Vertical Limit") don't or can't really do much with their characters, almost making their roles seem as if some of their footage was left on the editing room floor.
Not being intimately familiar with the researcher's life or work, I can't state how much artistic liberties have been taken with the character and basic story. There's no denying, however, that thanks to a solid script, superb direction and excellent performances from the leads, the overall effort is well-made, engaging from start to finish and surprisingly funny from time to time.
That's a bit of a good thing since much of the film occasionally feels as detached as the researcher's work. That doesn't necessarily make the film emotionally cold -- particularly thanks to some of those performances -- but it just didn't blow or carry me away like I thought it should and/or might.
Condon's point, of course -- beyond exploring the man's life and work -- is to show how little America's view of sex and its various permutations have changed over the subsequent half century since Kinsey's groundbreaking work. Accordingly, one can sense then that the filmmaker is also using the 1950s era reactions to symbolize those of today. Sadly, it doesn't seem we've come very far, a point proven by the controversy surrounding the work.
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