Kinsey

A seriously by-the-numbers biopic, Kinsey details the life and times of noted human-sexuality researcher Alfred Kinsey (Liam Neeson) – with the film charting his rough childhood and marriage to Laura Linney’s Clara through to his eventual success (and downfall) in his chosen field. There’s little doubt that, for the most part, Kinsey feels as though it’s emerged directly from a template for movies of this ilk, as writer/director Bill Condon has infused the proceedings with an excessively conventional feel that’s reflected in its myriad of underwhelming elements (eg the emphasis on the love/hate relationship between Kinsey and his overbearing father, John Lithgow’s Alfred). The movie’s glossy sheen ensures that one’s efforts at embracing either the material or the characters fall flat on an all-too-regular basis, with the hands-off atmosphere exacerbated by a deliberate pace that often borders on the oppressive (ie the whole thing is, by and large, simply lifeless). And while the film does improve slightly once Kinsey begins his research in earnest – ie anything’s better than the initial emphasis on his work with gall wasps – Condon’s meandering sensibilities result in a hopelessly repetitive midsection that inevitably cancels out the movie’s positive attributes (eg the admittedly strong performances, for one). By the time the aggressively tedious Kinsey-experiences-his-downfall stretch rolls around, Kinsey has certainly established itself as a forgettable and egregiously routine drama that’s rarely as entertaining or informative as Condon has clearly intended.

*1/2 out of ****