Flash of Genius – Greg Kinnear and Marc Abraham interview

IN THE 1960s, American family man and teacher Robert Kearns invented the intermittent wiper blade and took his idea to the Ford motor company, who subsequently took it on board and neglected to give him the credit he deserved. Kearns subsequently spent the next 12 years taking Ford to court, for both the recognition and financial remuneration he felt he deserved.

Flash of Genius recounts this David vs Goliath battle and its director, Marc Abraham, and star, Greg Kinnear, talk to us about making the film, liaising with Kearns’ family, and why they consider the inventor to be truly worthy of the term genius.

Q. I imagine one of the attractions of Flash of Genius is that it gets to shine a light on a little-known American hero?
Marc Abraham: Yeah. It’s not about an American hero. It’s about an average person and common guy, who comes up with an interesting idea, and it’s really about his battle. It’s probably happening even as we sit here – somebody is tinkering in a garage in Brighton or London, or India, and a lot of times these guys are properly respected and credited, but a lot of times they’re not. And most of the time when they’re not, they just don’t want to take on the battle. So, it’s appealing that here was a chance to talk about somebody who said: “You know what? I’m not going to take it!”

Q. And it’s even more inspiring nowadays with the credit crunch and the fact that corporations such as banks are now the villains of the moment?
Marc Abraham: Yeah, I think it’s become very resonant. Here we are in March 2009 and all the economies all over the world, such as The Bank of Scotland, are in trouble and corporations all over the world have not necessarily been operating with the transparency they should have been, or with the responsibility. I guess there must be plenty of people who wouldn’t mind being given the chance to say: “Hey, wait a second! I thought there was an unspoken, or spoken trust between us, and now I’m going to come after you.” There will be people who do that.

But in the end, movies can’t really be a substitute for real life. They can only give people some entertainment value as well as some provocative thoughts. And that’s what this movie attempts to do. We certainly didn’t know when we started the movie, or I bought the article 10 years ago, that this was going to come out exactly in the middle of this kind of experience.

Q. How invaluable was it being able to work with Robert Kearns’ family, and particularly his eldest son?
Greg Kinnear: It was very helpful. He was an Irish Catholic guy, with six kids, so in the midst of fighting the Ford motor company he had a night job also, and he had a wife and children, who were available to us to speak to. It was great to have that input because truthfully who this guy was, was a little unclear to me. I knew he was a little gruff and a little uncompromising and a little abrupt; abrasive almost. But I couldn’t glean exactly what was making him tick based on some news footage of these court cases. So, the family was very helpful in filling in the blanks.

Q. Did you get to see the film with them?
Greg Kinnear: Yes, they were at the premiere in Los Angeles. I think it was a tough movie for them in a lot of ways because Bob takes on this fight that’s about principles and there’s a lot of damage that’s done to him and his family. He can’t stop. It’s almost like an alcoholic wanting to have another drink. So, it’s a little unsettling sometimes for an audience. They might sit there thinking: “Just bend a little bit.” But he doesn’t do that and I think his kids, more than anybody, saw the effects of that. And so, it was interesting. They were definitely connected to the movie and seemed to think we’d done a good job for them.

Q. Were you aware of this story before you took the role?
Greg Kinnear: Not really. It was originally called Windshield Wiper Man and it sat on my desk for a long time. I thought it was a really bad superhero movie. Eventually, I cracked it. I think I’d heard about it. It’s not the most obscure story in the world – the guy who fought Ford and won. And this kind of individual triumph over a big company; it was something that I’d read about, or heard about. The truth is, when he died a few years ago there were over 1,000 obituaries written across the world sort of singling out his achievement. So, it was something that was known and that people were loosely familiar with, but as a story and as a functioning film I just had no idea of just how complicated it was.

Q. Have either of you had a flash of genius moment in your own personal lives?
Marc Abraham: You know, on a daily basis as a filmmaker, there’s small moments where you read something and get excited by it, such as the case of reading this article. I’ve never had any brilliant ideas about how to invent something and take it to market and retire.

Greg Kinnear: I invented the internet years ago… I’m not getting any royalties though but it seems to have taken off [laughs].

Q. The term genius is banded around quite a lot. Do you have any geniuses you look up to in your own lives?
Marc Abraham: My wife.

Greg Kinnear: My wife! [Laughs]

Marc Abraham: Yeah, there are people out there. I think some sports stars. I think Tiger Woods is a genius in his own way and there’s all kinds of versions of it, obviously. I think Stephen Hawking, or artists at work…

Greg Kinnear: I think that’s true. I sometimes hear people referring to someone as a genius and I get a little thrown, asking: “What’s that all about?” Anybody I think of as a genius is usually this huge kind of public galvanising figure out there that you read about and hear about. But I think they are all around us and what’s interesting about this movie is that clearly this guy, Bob Kearns, whatever your definition is that you’d interpret a genius to be… I’m pretty sure he’d fit into that category. Just as an idea guy and the way he came up with the few ideas that he did come up with, and his ability to take on a legal battle by himself against the Ford motor company back in that era definitely throws him into the category of genius for me.