Kinsey

2004 Drama

Alfred Kinsey was an entomologist who taught at Indiana University and had a keen interest in an area of human behavior that had seen little scholarly research -- human sexuality. While the courtship and reproductive patterns of animals had been carefully documented, Kinsey believed that most "established facts" about human sexual behavior were a matter of conjecture rather than research and that what most people said about their sex lives was not born out by the evidence (a subject that had personal resonance for him given the troubles he and his wife Clara Kinsey had in the early days of their marriage). After introducing a course in "Marriage" at Indiana University which offered frank and factual information on sex to students, Kinsey began an exhaustive series of interviews with a wide variety of people from all walks of life in order to find out the truth about sex practices in America. When he published Sexual Behavior and the Human Male in 1948, his findings were wildly controversial, indicating that most men had a wider variety of sexual experiences than most people imagined, including a number of practices commonly thought to be dangerous or perverted (including pre-marital sex, same-sex contacts, and masturbation). An even greater outcry greeted Kinsey's next volume, Sexual Behavior and the Human Female, which contradicted common notions than most women went into marriage sexually inexperienced. Kinsey is a film biography written and directed by Bill Condon which examines Kinsey's life and work from his strict childhood until his death in 1956. Liam Neeson plays Alfred Kinsey, and Laura Linney co-stars as Kinsey's wife and colleague Clara. John Lithgow highlights the supporting cast as Kinsey's repressed and moralistic father, while Chris O'Donnell, Peter Sarsgaard, and Timothy Hutton play members of Kinsey's research team and Tim Curry appears as an IU faculty member at odds with Kinsey's teachings. more..

Director: Bill Condon

Starring: Liam Neeson, Laura Linney, Chris O'Donnell, Peter Sarsgaard,Timothy Hutton

Reviews

  • The strength of Kinsey is finally in the clarity it brings to its title character. It is fascinating to meet a complete original, a person of intelligence and extremes.

    Roger Ebert - The Chicago Sun-Times

    26 April 2013

  • One of the year's most satisfying films.

    Michael Rechtshaffen - The Hollywood Reporter

    26 April 2013

  • Kinsey is patient and educational and never (darn it) rude or shocking.

    Lisa Schwarzbaum - Entertainment Weekly

    26 April 2013

  • Liam Neeson has never had a richer character to play on screen -- including his landmark role in "Schindler's List" -- and has never displayed such formidable energy and virtuosity.

    Joe Morgenstern - The Wall Street Journal

    26 April 2013

  • Scrappy, funny, hot-to-trot biopic.

    Peter Travers - Rolling Stone

    26 April 2013

Awards

  • Movie of the Year

    AFI Awards (2005)

  • Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

    Academy Awards (2005)

     
  • Best Edited Feature Film - Dramatic

    American Cinema Editors (2005)

     
  • Best Picture

    Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards (2005)

     
  • Best Feature Film Casting - Drama

    Casting Society of America (2005)