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Plot:
One of the best films of 2004, Kinsey pays tribute to the flawed but honorable man who revolutionized our understanding of human sexuality. As played by Liam Neeson in writer-director Bill Cond...( read more 
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Recent Reviews
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MCT:October 2, 2008
I really don't know about it being one of the best films of 2004, maybe 2004 was a weak year, I don't really recall but it is a very good one. Liam Neeson, one of my favorite actors, is brilliant and so are the supporting characters. Like the scientist main character himself though, the movie lacks heart or so I find and that's why it was hard for me to really love it.
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MCT:September 14, 2008Great historical movie about the origins of sexology. Movie in itself had flaws in minor character development, but this is due mostly to it being a biopic. Saddest part is that it seems as if society really hasn't changed at all.
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MCT:September 5, 2008
Liam Neesom does a fantastic job as Alfred Kinsey who through reserach got us to se and experience sexualty in a better way.
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MCT:August 24, 2008
The biographical story of Alfred Kinsey, the trail blazing scientist who, in 1948, shocked the world with his sensational book "Sexual Behavior in the Human Male". The film recounts his extraordinary journey from obscurity to notoriety with graphic detail.
It's hard to overstate Kinsey's impact on American culture. While I agree that his contributions are beyond significant and that his is a story worth telling, I still have far too many inhibitions to be objective in my review of this explicit and controversial movie. Kinsey the film, much like Kinsey the man, is sometimes disturbing, sometimes funny, but always interesting. -
MCT:July 27, 2008
flawed but interesting. liam neeson and laura linney are excellent. but a word of warning: if you are easily embarrassed, do NOT watch this with anyone else.
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MCT:July 5, 2008
This was an interesting movie based on Kinsey's research. If you're not familiar with it, please visit wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinsey_scale
The movie was a bit long at times, but nonetheless interesting. -
MCT:June 22, 2008
The life of Alfred Kinsey who took a technical view of researching sex and finds that emotions do figure in after all, something his own personal & emotional flaws took him some time to arrive to. Good performance by Liam Neeson; and for me?.. an even better one by Laura Linney who plays his most devoted wife.
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MCT:June 18, 2008Lesson of this movie: no matter how much of an "expert" you are in a field, vices can take over your life. Don't assume a person is above them.
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MCT:May 8, 2008
This was very well done. The actors were spectacular and hopefully the story has some grain of historic truth beacause it was great.
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MCT:April 12, 2008Alfred Kinsey is a pretty fascinating guy and this movie does a great job of keeping it interesting.
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MCT:March 30, 2008
As a very liberal person, living in a very liberal country, I sure enjoyed the story of this film. It's main theme, revolving around human sexuality and one man's quest to research and and revolutionize said field with the help of science, was very intriguing indeed, especially as the story is based on real events. Great performance as well by Liam Neeson and the supporting cast.
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MCT:January 8, 2008
a terrific, albeit explicit biopic of the modern sex pioneer. Kinsey is both brilliantly protagonized and antagonized by the thralls of science, society, familial rebellion, and human emotion. great acting performances and very well-edited. solid movie.
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MCT:December 31, 2007
Great story of the man who explored sexual activity with stats in the 20th century. Liam Neeson doing well as the nerdy professor who takes his research to obsession.
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MCT:December 30, 2007Sex has always been a controversial subject in America. It still is today (for example, movies are more likely to harbor an 'NC-17' rating for sex, then they are violence). The Motion Picture Association of America finds sex more inappropriate then violence. That doesn't make much sense, since violence is a more uncommon thing to see then sex (it's more normal for two people to have intercourse, then for a guy to blow another guy's head off with a .44 magnum). We have always been very judgmental and afraid of sex as a society, and even more so in the 1920s. In the Boy Scout's handbook back then, it stated for every ounce of semen you spill in masturbation you lose a pint of blood. That's ridiculous, that we as a culture would be so against our children, god forbid, experiencing something as absolutely natural as sexual gratification that we'd scare them into not doing it. Well, that's just the way things were, and the excellent new film by independent filmmaker, Bill Condon (Oscar Nominee 'Gods and Monsters'), 'Kinsey', follows the real-life journey of one man to make us understand this more and be more accepting of it.
'Kinsey' revolves around biology professor, Dr. Alfred C. Kinsey (Liam Neeson - Schindler's List), who did experimental research on the sexual desires and habits of the general public of his time. Professor Kinsey does this with the help of three young male assistants, Wardell Pomeroy (Chris O'Donnell - Cookie's Fortune), Clyde Martin (Peter Sarsgaard - Shattered Glass), and Paul Gebhard (Timothy Hutton - Playing God). Along with featuring Kinsey's research and reports, the film uncovers his personal life, like his estranged yet loving marriage to his former student, Clara McKillen (Laura Linney - You Can Count On Me) and his distant, hateful and sorrowful relationship with his staunch conservative and pretentious reverend father, Alfred Seguise Kinsey (played by 3rd Rock From the Sun's John Lithgow).
Bill Condon's biopic on the legendary sex researcher, Alfred Kinsey, is an excellent film overall. It has minimal flaws like being a tad overlong and having an inadequate ending, but everything besides that is spectacular. The finest aspect of this motion picture is definitely the acting. Liam Neeson gives an incredibly passionate and detailed performance as the legendary Dr. Alfred C. Kinsey, that should have maybe gotten him an Academy Award Nomination. Laura Linney is equally as fantastic as Kinsey's intricate and loving wife, a role which earned her an Oscar nod last year (sadly the movie's only one). Timothy Hutton is very good in his role, but Chris O'Donnell's acting just didn't quite do it for me. John Lithgow is fabulous as the seemingly cruel but emotionally scarred father of Dr. Kinsey (he really shows us he can do as good as job with a dramatic role, as he can a comedic role). Oliver Platt, Veronica Cartwright, Lynn Redgrave, Dylan Baker and Tim Curry have bit roles, but the real stand-out performer in this is newcomer indie film actor, Peter Sarsgaard. He gives a performance so richly layered, it's almost too brilliant for words. Young Sarsgaard proves himself to be the next great young actor of our generation with his pivotal role in 'Kinsey'. The Academy was absolutely insane not to award him with an Oscar nomination. The film's screenplay is masterful with intriguing and sophisticated dialogue, and Condon does an equally as great a job with directing.
In conclusion, 'Kinsey' is an excellent film, yet a daring film. Viewers should be aware it features extremely graphic sexual dialogue and situations (all are in good taste, but still...) In other words, even though 'Kinsey' is a great movie, it's not one to watch with your mother! If you are easily offended by this sort of thing, don't even bother with this movie. If you aren't I highly recommend this film that gives an interesting and immensely intelligent view on the way sex is interpreted and should be interpreted in our society. Grade: A- -
MCT:December 22, 2007
At the time Kinsey was compiling his sexual textbooks America was nervous. these days I doubt anyone would bat an eyelid but then I suspect it was because of this man we are as free thinking and open as we are.
Well done to Condon for handling this in such a sensible fasion. -
MCT:December 15, 2007
if you want to know more about relationships and sex, this is the movie to watch. Very graphic scenes and explanations. It is very eye-opening and educative. Liam Neeson sure stepped out of the box in this movie to play Alfred Kinsey.
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MCT:December 4, 2007
One has to remember that this is a movie and not a 100% factual documentary. Fascinating and worth seeing purely for the educational aspect.
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MCT:November 17, 2007
Excellent acting all around and a great story. An accurate portrayal of just how controversial certain sexual topics were years ago (and possibly today as well).
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MCT:November 14, 2007
Watching this film reminded me of what a great actor Neeson is.
Watching him play Kinsey and the way that he balances all of his flaws is a really skillful feat. The supporting cast is a good one too, Laura Linney is effortless as normal as is Peter Saarsgard. Even Chris O'Donnell is watchable in this...
The story is totally engaging and moves along at a fair old pace, although the film begins to lag a little towards the end.
I wasn't expecting to enjoy this as much as I did and it was a nice surprise. -
MCT:November 12, 2007
Liam Neeson's portrayal of Alfred Kinsey is so heartfelt and fascinating, you can't help but fall in love with the guy. This film makes you truly appreciate Kinsey's passionate and tireless research and the sacrifices he makes to help us all better u...(read more)nderstand and embrace human sexuality.
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MCT:November 11, 2007
Alfred Kinsey was a paradox. He was a fearless, groundbreaking researcher who shone a floodlight on the sexual practices of ordinary Americans for the first time in the nation's history, liberating many, horrifying some, and disgusting others. At the same time, he was completely blind to the context of his work: the emotions of sex and the societal value of sexual constraints. This biopic captures Kinsey's contradictions and touches on the maelstrom he and his work created.
It's clear that Kinsey's had three motivations to investigate American's
sexual mechanics: a desire to serve mankind by educating it, an obsession with classifying things (he'd already classified a *million* gall wasp specimens before pursing his sex surveys), and a rebellion against a mean and priggish father. The movie communicates Kinsey's desire to lift up people by enlightening them. His disgust with the tripe written about sex within marriage, his non-judgmental interview methods that he used and drilled into his research assistants, and the sheer number of personal sex histories he recorded attest to his good intent as well as his scientific rigor.
But by focusing on the clinical aspects of sexuality, he totally ignored the impact of sexuality. He saw nothing amiss about having his male research assistants have sex with some of the female subjects in order to make accurate observations regarding female arousal. He encouraged polyamory among the families of his research staff while expecting that they stay emotionally detached. He couldn't understand why his wife cried when he disclosed to her his sexual experiments with naïve candor. And he was completely mystified by the size and intensity of the public criticism that accompanied his work. Only after some of the emotional damage he fostered in his own circle hit home did he begin to understand that limits on sexuality might not be such a bad thing.
Liam Neeson does a masterful job portraying Kinsey as a good, complicated, conflicted, and flawed man on a mission. Laura Linney, though limited in her screen time as Kinsey's wife, creates a three-dimensional character. (The scene where she turns the tables on her husband polyamorous philosophy is a subtle delight.)
Where the movie stumbled was in just barely touching on the lives of the
people Kinsey influenced, for better or worse. I would have liked to have seen more about the lives of his researchers' families, and seen more scenes of Kinsey himself dealing with the public and their reactions to the book, rather than just a few exchanges with the press corps while running to funding meeting. This produced a clinical feel about the entire film that mirrored Kinsey's own character. As a result, I admired Kinsey's intellect and grit, and I appreciated the service he did for America with his work in a detached sort of way. I never felt any of the menace that the real Kinsey must have as conservatives attacked his work and its results as morally repugnant. More importantly, I never felt more than twinges of sympathy for Kinsey when the darker side of his work and attitudes came home to roost.
Nevertheless, the movie packs a solid intellectual and political punch,
arriving in 2004. As late as twenty years ago, the majority attitude
towards sexuality was at least tolerant, and in some cases, expansive. Now, America is swinging back to its historically prudish standards of sexuality, as protests around the time of the film's release attest. (Do a Google search on "Kinsey film protest"). -
MCT:November 3, 2007
This movie is about sex sex & more sex. What more could you want? There is a wierd but with an old lady though..
