This film of underdog fighting big corporation FORD tells the story of an inventor and college professor by the name of Robert Kearns (Greg Kinnear) who invented and perfected the intermittent windshield wiper.  Ford Motor Company stole his design.  Rejecting settlement after settlement, Kearns, to the consternation of his wife Phyllis (Lauren Graham) wants an apology and recognition of himself as the inventor.

The change of the film’s original title from WINDSHIELD WIPER MAN to FLASH OF GENIUS illustrates the filmmakers’ seriousness of intention.  Even most of the jokes are so dead serious in nature, the characters have to emphasize (not that they are not funny) that they are cracking one (a joke).  The trouble with FLASH OF GENIUS is that being based on an article, the writers are not quite sure what to do with the shortage of material.  The result is a film that dwells on the traits of other film genres – like the family film, the nostalgic period piece or that of the courtroom drama.  But Abraham mistakes melodrama for drama most of the time with the film reaching its limit in sappiness.  The absurdity of Kearns defending himself and serving as layer and witness (reminiscent of Woody Allen in BANANAS) serves as testimony to the film’s awkwardness.

Abraham’s film at its best looks subtly at Kearn’s fear of failure, especially in the scene of the father and son (Jake Abel) heart to heart talk.  At its worst, the dialogue comes to as clichéd as: “It is not about money, it’s about right and wrong!  Come on, Isn’t this worth fighting?”

FLASH OF GENIUS is still immensely watchable despite its flaws.  Kinnear does the best with his material with the courtroom scene serving as a satisfying climax.  It is difficult to dislike a well intentioned film of the small guy taking on corporate bullies - even though in this case Kearns is displayed as quite the losable looney.