A Few Reviews From Last Night

Dear Moriarty,

I attended the Kindey screening last night with a few friends. I came into this having seen the trailers and thats it. My friends had no idea what it was about. Now that I think about it, neither did I. The trailers only show one aspect of the film: Kinsey broke social barriers with his survey/study of sexual behavior in the 50's (or early 60's?). It looked good and I was looking forward to it. I've seen Gods and Monsters (one of writer director Bill Condon's other major works) and liked it, but some of the gay stuff alienated me. I'm familiar with Liam Neeson and I'm a big fan of both Peter Sarsgaard (Garden State, Broken Glass) and Timothy Hutton (Beautiful Girls). Those two with Chris O'Donnel are solid actors who are always reliable and sometimes exciting. They are the trio that work under Dr. Kinsey in the film. Laura Linney plays Dr. Kinsey's wife, she looked familiar to me from Mystic River.

What I really want to talk about is the acting. Its superb. I can't imagine better stuff coming from any of the 100 speaking roles (I know it was over 100 speaking parts because of the cool Q&A Condon and Moriarty gave us after the show). Liam Neeson does a great Kinsey, he sounds very deliberate and scientific. If I didn't know better, I'd think it was because he wasn't too smooth with the American accent, but I do know better. Great job by Neeson. After seeing the film, you'll know all of the subtle twists and turns that Kinsey goes through. Neeson takes him from an uptight, preacher's son, up-tight scientist, through his first awkward sexual experience, through more experimental sexual experience (by experiemental, I mean gay, of course), and finally through sickness. Of course those are the broad strokes and not the whole picture, but you see how much the charcter changes and Neeson does all of it convincingly without losing Kinsey. He's always Kinsey.

Laura Linney seems to have a great time with Kinsey's wife "Mack". She pulls off some really funny moments and one liners in the film with confidence. She got a lot of laughs. That doesn't mean she's just there for humor, her character often gets the butt end of the bad turns this story takes. She gets her fair share of crying scenes. She also gets a painful love scene involving her and Neeson. They don't flinch from the awkwardness and pain, but I wasn't so uncomfortable that i couldn't watch. The deal is they're both virgins and they attempt sex on their honeymoon.....to no avail. Good stuff. From that point on, I cared about their relationship and I wanted them to develop sexually. Thats really the crux of the movie. If you don't want Mack and Prok (Professor Kinsey's nickname) to acheive sexual liberation, you won't care about the rest. You also won't understand why Kinsey does all of the work he does toward educating the nation on sexual activity.

Now I've dug myself into a hole, as I said there are over 100 speaking roles, all beautifully acted and as much as I want to, I can't proceed to breakdown Peter Sarsgaard's turn as the bisexual human monkeywrench without talking about John Lithgow (Harry and the Hendersons) and his relentless harrassment as Kinsey's father. Lithgow's character gives us a better background of Kinsey's childhood than the little Neeson guy did (the actor who plays young Kinsey is really good and looks a lot like Liam but when I think back to those scenes, all I can think of is Lithgow's dominating presence), and I'll bet that wasn't an accident. But I can't even get into those roles without mentioning Timothy Hutton and I definately can't mention Hutton without talking about the gay guy they interview in the bar. But I can't talk about him with out mentioning all the other impressive single scene performances that jumped out or DIDN'T jump out as they should. And then there's Oliver Platt and Tim Curry. I'm sorry, but I can't do them all justice. There's just too much. I'll just say this: I hope this gives Peter Saarsgard an academy nod and more roles. He plays a character that at times is lovable and funny, and at times is wierd and even shadey, but then back to lovable. Like all of the acting, its done subtlely and pitch perfect. I'm not saying any of them moved me to tears, but it was pitch perfect and funny. Thats the kind of acting I like.

A quick word about something you might want to know. Veiwers of this film are going to see a little bit of homosexuality, and not in a demonized way. Their going to have to question fidelity and trust in our liberated society. After seeing this film and listening to the Q&A, I hesitate to call America liberated. These are the kinds of issues it addresses outside of the personal stuff. "What would America be like had the libertines made the pilgrimage and not the puritans" Thats one of the questions Kinsey brings up. Its not offensive and its not graphic, but be prepared to think a little bit. Its no Back to the Future 2, and anyone expecting that will be nervous throughout. Its funny, educational and thought provoking. Its a huge step in the right direction and I thank Condon and Fox Searchlight for making it.

THEY SHOW A PENIS TOUCHING A VAGINA AND ITS R RATED. Yeah MPAA.

Thank you for hosting this Drew, good stuff on the Q&A,but next time, you should ask Condon: On the Kinsey scale of sexuality from 0 to 6 where do you fit in?

Sincerely,

Paul is Dead (PS Jon Brion rules)

Here’s the one from the Egyptian:

Hey Harry and Sex Pioneers,

Giddy tingles ran through the audience in the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood Wednesday night in anticipation of, Kinsey, Bill Condon’s new film about the life and work of the famous sexual biologist.

Writer and director Condon leaves no stone unturned in his portrait. Beginning with oppressive childhood snapshots, to his beloved wife Clara McMillen (Laura Linney in a performance that’s the soul of the film), to the start of his research springing from a Marriage Course, personalities are rendered in humane tones.

Alfred Kinsey (Liam Nesson) is obsessed with details. He spent twenty years collecting a million moths before moving to sexual research. He religiously believes knowledge releases repression and ignorance, which in turn melts hate and indifference that can lash deep scars. Uptight America, now and then, fears sexuality unless it’s benign and defanged. A sea of hysteria moves against him for daring to say things such as, grandmothers and young teenage girls masturbate while lots of folks have homosexual experiences and engage in premarital and extra marital sex.

Quite a bit of attention is given Kinsey’s own sexual experimentation including homosexuality and sharing his wife. But underlying the drive of everything, in Kinsey’s mind, is the advancement of science.

The film bathes in laughter throughout as the doctor rigorously focuses his sexual research no matter the social setting. The dramatic ups and downs take on familiar shapes near the end. Kinsey’s life is so rich a mini-series could be dedicated to its telling. Performances brim with vitality.

Defiantly seek out this biography of a unique individual from Indiana University in Bloomington.

-Psychedelic

And yet another from the Sherman Oaks event:

Thanks very much for having this screening. After viewing Kinsey, an amazing film all things considered. Beautifully shot and acted. I had one question that I wanted to ask Bill Condon and perhaps you can address this - Kinsey is seen through the film popping (pills) barbiturates and perhaps I missed it but why?

Anyway, I'll have to watch this film again because it really was one of those rare gems you hardly see and that in itself is an awful shame and truth due to a myriad of reasons. Incredibly crafted in all aspects, thoughtful, poignant, humorous, intelligent and one of the best 'bio' films ever made.

My only critique if you can call it that was the make up and hair for Laura Linney's character. How old was "Mac" when she met Kinsey? In the film, if she was an undergrad - she was a very old looking undergrad. I understand trying to make her look as plain and as unassuming as possible but the make up, hair on her was in my opinion not very good and there were times that Neeson's make up seemed a bit inconsistent with his age in the film.

Again, Thank you and AICN very much for the screening. I will definitely tell everyone I know to go and see this incredible film. BTW your questions to Bill Condon after the film - Excellent questions!

And one last one:

“Something I never would have known: Not knowing knowledge never ennobles!” - Moxy Fruvous

Dear Moriarty,

First off, I’d like to thank you for a couple of great screenings in the last few months. Last night I had a great time, and possibly made a few new friends. Thanks for bringing us all together, and thanks for presenting a great film. It was a fantastic event!

The film itself, Kinsey, is a biographical movie about the life of Albert Kinsey, the first man to study human sexual behavior in any breadth. His life style was highly unconventional, highly secretive, and arguably stressful enough to make him ill. Juxtaposing his controversial personal choices is his honest public commitment to empirically accounting for the breadth of sexual lifestyles and social behaviors that make up our country, and make for happy, healthy people. Any biopic is going to introduce an element of nobility to its subject, because the subject, ultimately, must have done something worth making a movie about. Kinsey is no different, but avoids iconography by bringing the entire story down to a very personal, intimate level, focusing on the paradoxes of Kinsey’s motivations. This is where the bulk of the conflict comes from, and it is also what will make this movie so controversial.

Homophobes will have a very hard time watching this movie. The characters in the film are all sympathetic, with the sole exception of a sexual molester interviewed by Kinsey. Each of Kinsey’s “inner circle” had a gift for earning the trust of others, largely because of their own openness and honesty. As an audience member, you will certainly feel this, and the actors playing these roles communicate those qualities in a believable manner. Once the relationships have developed, and the audience’s trust has been established, the filmmakers begin introducing both the more explicit sexual images, as well as Kinsey’s own sexual departure from his (Methodist?) upbringing. Anyone who has known or loved people who fall outside of Catholic favor should be comfortable with it, and the sexual images are things we’ve all seen and experienced, so ideally, this wouldn’t be a problem. At the same time, biographies tend to appeal to a more conservative crowd, and many audience members, I think, will feel the need to condemn the movie to preserve their social identities. Certainly Fox News has a head start in this regard.

Here is a beautiful portrait of a real person who couldn’t live by the social morays of his age, and made the most influential contribution to his culture in half a century, at least. Kinsey opened doors for women’s liberation, gay rights, racial integration, sexual revolution, and long due legal revisions. Anyone who lives in this country can benefit from seeing this movie. That’s for certain. The question is whether or not people can leave their hate and fear at the door. Kinsey probably would not want his life to be taken as an endorsement for one lifestyle over another, and the film doesn’t present it as one, I feel. If you walk into the movie theater looking for that, though, the content is there, and it will be very easy to make assumptions about the intent “behind” the movie. What I saw on the screen was a beautifully realized portrait of someone I might not want to know too closely, but to whom I owe a great deal, and who deserves my respect. It’s a complex response, one that merits a lot of thinking on… Any biography that makes you stop and look at your own life is a good one, and Kinsey will do that for those that don’t hate it already. Seeing this movie is a really good, enriching way to spend an evening.

Thank you once again, Moriarty.

Tennyson E. Stead

Wait... did I say that was the last one? Because it wasn’t. This one is:

Hey Moriarty,

I just got back from an advanced LA screening of Kinsey, which doesn't roll out in theaters for another few weeks. Mori, thanks for throwing together an awesome gathering, as the turn out was extremely well. It was very cool to see one of the faces behind ACN, as well as a few familiar faces. In attendence were Jason Isaacs (Hook from Peter Pan) and James Duval (Frank the Bunny from Donnie Darko). But, you wanna hear about the movie, right??

The film is based on the life and research of sex scientist/pioneer Alfred Kinsey, played quite convincingly here by Liam Neesen. Even as a small boy, Kinsey, who is born into a very conservative family, has always had an unusual interest in the individuality of various species. His taste evolves as he matures, however, from the study of certain insects to the very study of human sexual nature/tendencies.

The film overall is great, and, while it could have dealt with its subject matter in a perverse or disrespectful manner, director Bill Condon (Gods and Monsters) transforms it into art, completely respecting the audience's intentions. Laura Linney plays Kinsey's wife, who must deal with some pretty heavy shit throughout her married life. Many of the situations she finds herself in give the film room to laugh and breath, however, as they are quite humorous for different reasons. You'll know when you see them. Linney turns in an excellent performance, and I wouldn't be suprised if there is some pretty heavy oscar buzz surrounding both she and Neesen's names come Oscar season. The supporting cast is equally fantastic! Peter Saarsgard as Kinsey's protoge completely emerges himself into the character here, giving a performance unlike any he has put forth on screen thus far. Having quite fewer scenes, the rest of the supporting lineup, namely John Lithgow, Chris O'Donnell and Oliver Platt, all do very well with their material and screentime.

I have a feeling that Bill Condon will get an Oscar nomination for both best screenplay and best film, but will have more luck in the screenplay category.This film isn't for everyone, and sometimes the subject matter can be tough. But Condon makes a strikingly interesting film out of the material he has assembled. With Gods and Monsters and now Kinsey, Bill Condon has definately been pumping out some interesting cinema. I highly recommend this film to anyone who loves intelligent, subtle and careful filmmaking.

Cheers!

If you use this, call me...Soapy Sanderson

I’ll be back in the early morning with a ton of stuff for you, including the long-promised Brad Bird interview, my review of THE INCREDIBLES, that Matt Stone/Trey Parker interview, and if I’m lucky... a few more very cool reviews. For now, though, since I have to be back out of bad in three hours...

"Moriarty" out.