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American movies have never been especially adept at dealing with the topic of sex. Perhaps it was the decades under the strict Hayes Office, the censor board that ensured onscreen married couples were shown in separate beds, or the ongoing reluctance of studios to accept an R or NC-17 rating for their films (which would thereby reduce potential audience size). Whatever the reason, Hollywood has a tendency either to cut from a passionate kiss to the morning after, or to render scenes of hilariously over-the-top steaminess (e.g. Basic Instinct).

While Kinsey does not shy away from nudity and a frank discussion of sexual behavior, it ultimately suffers the same prudishness that has befallen so many other American films. Rather than meaningfully explore the country’s sexual mores during the 1940’s, writer-director Bill Condon delivers scene after scene where modern audiences are essentially set up to laugh at the sexual naivete of our forebears.

The film’s eponymous subject is Dr. Alfred Kinsey (Liam Neeson), the famous scientist whose 1948 tome, Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, shot to the top of the bestseller list and is widely recognized as having brought a taboo topic into the realm of public discourse. As the film takes pains to point out, much of what was considered controversial then remains so now.

Although Dr. Kinsey’s myriad professional accomplishments are highlighted throughout the film, Condon is equally invested in examining the good doctor’s personal life. In a better movie, these observations would have provided us with a fully-rounded portrait of a complicated man. Instead, Kinsey’s impetus for studying sex is reduced to pop psychology: born to a stern, repressed father (John Lithgow, reprising his fiery preacher role from Footloose), young Alfred had no choice but to rebel. When a consultation with a doctor improves the struggling sex life of Kinsey and his new bride, Clara (Laura Linney), you can almost see the lightbulb go off in Kinsey’s head; soon after, a new field of study emerges.

Although Kinsey and Clara remain deeply in love as his career begins to take off, complications arise when Clyde Martin (Peter Sarsgaard), a bisexual researcher hired by Kinsey, takes an interest in the doctor, and later, in his wife. Rather paradoxically, given the film’s ostensible message accepting all kinds of sexual behavior, Clyde and Clara are shown rolling around naked in the sheets, while the screen fades to black after Clyde and Kinsey share a kiss. In the end, the film winds up reaffirming the sort of traditional values message it claims to eschew. While Clyde gets married and experiences the pain of adultery, Clara and Kinsey’s lifelong devotion to each other is celebrated in the movie’s closing moments.

Despite being anchored by some knockout performances, especially by Neeson and Lynn Redgrave (who has a pivotal cameo at the end), the movie’s traditional biopic structure proves a poor fit for the life of an undeniably fascinating figure.

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originally posted: 11/17/04 07:31:05
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