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Kinsey (12-Nov-2004)

Director: Bill Condon

Writer: Bill Condon

Producer: Gail Mutrux

Keywords: Drama, Biography, Controversial

NameOccupationBirthDeathKnown for
Dylan Baker
Actor
7-Oct-1959   Murder One
Veronica Cartwright
Actor
20-Apr-1950   Alien
Tim Curry
Actor
19-Apr-1946   Frank N. Furter in Rocky Horror Picture Show
Katharine Houghton
Actor
10-Mar-1945   Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
Timothy Hutton
Actor
16-Aug-1960   Ordinary People
John Krasinski
Actor
20-Oct-1979   Jim Halpert on The Office
Laura Linney
Actor
5-Feb-1964   Meryl in The Truman Show
John Lithgow
Actor
19-Oct-1945   Third Rock From The Sun
Luke MacFarlane
Actor
19-Jan-1980   Over There
Liam Neeson
Actor
7-Jun-1952   Rob Roy, Gangs of New York
Julianne Nicholson
Actor
1-Jul-1971   Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Chris O'Donnell
Actor
26-Jun-1970   NCIS Los Angeles
Oliver Platt
Actor
12-Jan-1960   Bartlet's lawyer on The West Wing
Lynn Redgrave
Actor
8-Mar-1943 2-May-2010 The Happy Hooker
William Sadler
Actor
13-Apr-1950   The Shawshank Redemption
Peter Sarsgaard
Actor
7-Mar-1971   Shattered Glass

CAST

Liam Neeson   ...   Alfred Kinsey
Laura Linney   ...   Clara McMillen
Chris O'Donnell   ...   Wardell Pomeroy
Peter Sarsgaard   ...   Clyde Martin
Timothy Hutton   ...   Paul Gebhard
John Lithgow   ...   Alfred Seguine Kinsey
Tim Curry   ...   Thurman Rice
Oliver Platt   ...   Herman Wells
Dylan Baker   ...   Alan Gregg
Julianne Nicholson   ...   Alice Martin
William Sadler   ...   Kenneth Braun
Heather Goldenhersh   ...   Martha Pomeroy
John McMartin   ...   Huntington Hartford
Veronica Cartwright   ...   Sara Kinsey
Kathleen Chalfant   ...   Barbara Merkle
Dagmara Dominczyk   ...   Agnes Gebhard
Harley Cross   ...   Young Man in Gay Bar
Susan Blommaert   ...   Staff Secretary
Benjamin Walker   ...   Kinsey at 19
Matthew Fahey   ...   Kinsey at 14
Will Denton   ...   Kinsey at 10
John Krasinski   ...   Ben
Arden Myrin   ...   Emily
Romulus Linney   ...   Rep B. Carroll Reece
Katharine Houghton   ...   Mrs. Spaulding
David Harbour   ...   Robert Kinsey
Judith J. K. Polson   ...   Mildred Kinsey
Leigh Spofford   ...   Anne Kinsey
Jenna Gavigan   ...   Joan Kinsey
Luke MacFarlane   ...   Bruce Kinsey
Mike Thurstlic   ...   Kenneth Hand
Jarlath Conroy   ...   Grocer
Bill Buell   ...   Dr. Thomas Lattimore
Michele Federer   ...   Gall Wasp Class Coed
Alvin Keith   ...   Black Student
Amy Wilson   ...   Marriage Class Coed
Maryellen Owens   ...   Female Assistant Professor
Roderick Hill   ...   Clerical Worker
Peg Small   ...   Retired Teacher
Don Sparks   ...   Middle-Aged Businessman
Joe Zaloom   ...   Janitor
Kate Reinders   ...   Female Student #1
Mara Hobel   ...   Female Student #2
Lindsay Schmidt   ...   Female Student #3
Jason Patrick Sands   ...   Male Student #1
Marcel Simoneau   ...   Male Student #2
Bobby Steggert   ...   Male Student #3
Johnny Pruitt   ...   Male Student #4
John Epperson   ...   Effete Man in Gay Bar
Jefferson Mays   ...   Effete Man's Friend
Mark Mineart   ...   Slavic Man
Martin Murphy   ...   Bartender
Kate Jennings Grant   ...   Marjorie Hartford
Barry Del Sherman   ...   IU Reporter #1
Fred Burrell   ...   IU Reporter #2
Michael Arkin   ...   NYC Reporter #1
Daniel Ziskie   ...   NYC Reporter #2
Tuck Milligan   ...   NYC Reporter #3
Edwin McDonough   ...   Mr. Morrissey
John Ellison Conlee   ...   Bookstore Clerk
Arthur French   ...   Sharecropper
Chandler Williams   ...   Prison Inmate
Jaime Roman Tirelli   ...   Hispanic Man
Draper Shreeve   ...   Ballet Teacher
Phillip Kushner   ...   Bellhop
Joe Badalucco   ...   Radio Repairman
Henrietta Mantooth   ...   Poet
Doris Smith   ...   Old Woman
Reno   ...   Male Impersonator
Pascale Armand   ...   Young Black Woman
Sean Skelton   ...   Staff Photographer
Steven Edward Hart   ...   Reverend
Clifford David   ...   Prof. Smithson
Randy Redd   ...   Student
Lynn Redgrave   ...   Final Interview Subject

REVIEWS

Featured review by [[Mark Tapio Kines]]:

Alas, not a movie about yours truly -- that would be called Kinesy -- this is the well-meaning if occasionally corny biography of [[Alfred Kinsey]], the influential [[@list::edu:iu-bloomington|Indiana State University]] professor whose post-World War II interviews with ordinary Americans about their sexual practices blew apart countless old fashioned notions about sex in this country, and arguably opened the door to the Sexual Revolution of the 1960's. I went to this film with expectations that were, perhaps, too high. I felt a film about this man and his work could, if done right, encourage discussion and debate amongst current moviegoers about sex; for in today's America, as always, sex is something that everybody always thinks about but nobody ever talks about. So instead of learning more about each other, we have to settle with sensationalistic reports of celebrities' dalliances. Sad. Now, I'm as fascinated about people's sex lives as the next guy, but even amongst my closest friends, for all that we talk about, I know nothing about their sex lives. So let me take a moment and invite all those reading this review to contact me and tell me your stories. And I promise I'll share alike.

But we were talking about Kinsey. If I was disappointed in the film, it was not only by its surprisingly Hollywood sentiment (Alfred Kinsey was, if nothing else, totally unsentimental -- and to be fair, [[Bill Condon]] writes his character, and [[Liam Neeson]] enacts it, truthfully, showing a Kinsey who was monomaniacally devoted to his work, to the exclusion of any talk of love, morals or consequences) but by its overly ambitious drive to cram in every detail possible about Kinsey's life. This is a standard problem with most biopics. While Condon and his cast are open about exploring issues of the characters' sexuality -- indeed, it would be criminal to make a film about the world's foremost sex researcher while ignoring his own sex life -- the most interesting scenes, such as when we see Kinsey and his "unquestionably moral" team of researchers ([[Chris O'Donnell]], [[Timothy Hutton]] and a typically great Peter Sarsgaard) become shall we say personally involved in their research (with their subjects, with each other's wives, and even, sometimes, with each other), are never fully examined, since Condon has to rush off to give his next history lesson. This is a consistent let-down: There seems to be exactly one scene dealing with each aspect of Kinsey's life, and just as it starts to become something more than just a biopic, the story moves on. It's all the more frustrating because this is a well-made, entertaining and genuinely brave film. As a Hollywood filmmaker, Condon takes risks so assuredly that he clearly had a chance to explore deeper issues about sexuality and ethics, but he blew it, because he was too set on making a biopic. What might have worked beautifully would have been an approach similar to the great 1999 Japanese drama [[@movie::after-life-1998]]. In that film, a number of the newly-dead are asked which one memory from their lives they would choose to take with them to Heaven. The cast of mostly non-actors start sharing their real memories, and the film plays out these interviews against the deepening story of the case workers assigned to these newly-dead. Kinsey could have been remarkable if the film simply consisted of Kinsey's interviews, contrasted with the man and his staff themselves, giving us a portrait of the complicated nature of sex, science, even the human condition, rather than wasting time showing Kinsey begging for money for his research. Instead, stretching for a cohesive storyline, Condon places it on Kinsey's glum relationship with his puritan father (played by [[John Lithgow]] with an almost cartoonish animosity towards his son). Ho-hum. I thought we were finally beyond the old "Blame the Screwed-up Parent" approach to explaining a character's psychology. Talk about old fashioned!


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