January 10, 2005 -- “Kinsey,” based on the life and research of the famous human sexuality researcher, Alfred Kinsey, is the best film of the year. It is one of two biographical films that made my top 10 list this year. The other is “The Aviator,” based on the life of Howard Hughes. First of all, “Kinsey” starts with a great screenplay by Bill Condon (who wrote the screenplay for the multi-award-winning “Chicago”), secondly, it is loaded with great performances by a talented cast, thirdly, the flawless direction and by Bill Condon (“Gods and Monsters”) and top-notch production values makes for a compelling film.

Liam Neeson (“Love Actually”) plays Alfred Kinsey, a biologist who first makes a name for himself by studying an insect called a gall wasp. Carefully taking measurements of hundreds of thousands of wasps, he completes an important study of the characteristics and distribution of the insect. The movie follows Kinsey through his early career and his romance and marriage to Clara Bracken McMillen (played by Laura Linney of “Love Actually”). The story develops these characters fully and carefully lays the groundwork for Kinsey's interest in studying human sexuality. Suffice it to say that there was a need for the research (illustrated in the film), and it was a field that was largely uncharted at the time (the middle of the last century). The film also shows how Kinsey and his research team hit on the idea of basing the landmark study on surveys based on in-depth, anonymous interviews.

A scene which perhaps best captures Kinsey's scientific approach to the study has him and an assistant interviewing Kenneth Braun (played by William Sadler of “The Green Mile”), a strange man at the far end of the human sexual behavioral spectrum. Braun boasts thousands of sexual partners of both sexes, including over 20 species of animals. He also boasts that he can achieve an erection and ejaculate starting from a flaccid state in 10 seconds. When the assistant scoffs at this claim, Braun immediately proceeds to demonstrate. The assistant later walks off in disgust, but Kinsey, ever the scientist, calmly checks his stopwatch as the demonstration proceeds. Kinsey later makes it clear to Braun that he believes some of Braun's activities, including pedophelia, are morally wrong. He says, “No one should be forced to do anything against their will. No one should be hurt.” It is clear that Kinsey keeps his moral and scientific judgements separate.

Kinsey himself, and his assistants, get caught up in the study to the point where extra-marital affairs threaten to destroy the research teams and some marriages. Kinsey's own marriage suffers because of the research and the fallout from his own sexual experimentations. Kinsey's research is conducted both for scientific curiosity and as a personal exploration. Later in the movie, the moral outrage over Kinsey's study, and the resulting political heat, threaten Kinsey's work. Neeson and Linney both give outstanding performances in this film and both richly deserve Oscar nominations, as does Peter Sarsgaard of “Shattered Glass”), who plays sexual researcher Clyde Martin. Many other supporting characters give fine supporting performances, including Sadler, Chris O'Donnell, Timothy Hutton, John Lithgow (who plays Kinsey's Bible-thumping father), Tim Curry (who plays against type as a conservative prude), Oliver Platt and Dylan Baker.

This effective biography of a sexually repressed man who goes on to become the most famous sex researcher in history pulls no punches. Even so, it must have been unimaginably difficult to do what Kinsey did in the oppressive climate of the 1940s and 1950s. Even today, society still understands very little about human sexuality, as demonstrated in the recent voting against gay marriage. This is a powerful drama, a compelling biography, and a relevant social commentary, all rolled up in one superbly-crafted package. This film rates an A.

For more information on this film, including, story, cast, filmmakers, video, photo essays, downloads, the film, talk about sex (taking the test), click on this link to the official home page of Kinsey.

Copyright © 2005 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

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