Friday, May 1, 2009

Under the Radar

I watched this movie a few nights ago and I keep thinking about it. It is a really, really good movie. It is the story of the man who invented the intermittent windshield wipers. Sounds pretty interesting doesn't it? Trust me, it is interesting. It stars Greg Kinnear, who I know most of us are pretty big fans of. He plays Dr. Bob Kearns, a university professor who invents the intermittent windshield wipers and takes the idea to Ford. I'm not going to say much more about the plot, I don't want to give it away. If you like movies where you root for the underdog, and you like courtroom dramas, you'll like this movie. Dr. Kearns is an interesting guy and Kinnear does a great job portraying him. It is amazing how something we all have in our vehicles and think nothing of, totally consumed one man's life. You'll like Dr. Kearns' kids too.

The movie is based on an article that was published in the New Yorker in the early 90's. I actually read the article when it came out. I was taking a creative writing class at the time and the New Yorker was our text book. It was pretty cool. We all had subscriptions and every week when the new one came out the professor picked out articles for us to read and write papers on and stuff. I love that magazine to this day. Anyway, trust me, this is a good movie and I highly recommend it. It is PG-13 and just came out on DVD a few weeks ago.

12 comments:

Amy said...

I remember when this came out and I wanted to see it. If I remember right, it's a true story & I think I saw the real guy interviewed. Thanks for the reminder, I'll add it to my queue. Speaking of my queue...I finished Season 4 of LOST yesterday! I'm caught up til this season now. I just have to wait til they come out on DVD. Crazy show. I really like it. It was great treadmill material. I'm not sure what I'll watch now. Maybe Office reruns.

Sue said...

It's a true story. The real guy died in 2005, so you probably saw the director or perhaps his son interviewed. I can't say enough about Kinnear, he really does a good job. I also like the actress who plays his wife. I don't know her name, but I've seen her in movies before and I like her. She was in that mother/daughter show on tv. Never saw it, just remember the commercials and can't remember the name.

I'm glad you like Lost! Season 5 ROCKS! It's the best season yet.

Cat said...

The intermittent setting on windshield wipers is seriously the one of the greatest inventions of all time. Dad's Maxima had the best ever. The increments were so close together that you could totally customize the perfect wipe speed for your precipitation conditions. As you can maybe tell, windshield wipers are a big deal to me, almost a neurosis (just ask Megan). I had to break my web vow of silence just to comment on this.

Pops said...

What's with the "web vow of silence" thing, Cath? Did I offend you with one of my dumb comments? Give, Cat, give!

Matt and I saw this at home a week ago. Liked it a lot and yes, Greg Kinnear was very good in the part. Very interesting and going up against Ford Motor Company in Detroit was amazing. I used to subscribe to "The New Yorker" when we were just out of college in the 6o's. Course I loved it for the jokes and cartoons. The best political cartoons ever.

Cat said...

No, Dad. I've not been offended. I just needed a break from it. I've been really sick this week and maybe I'm just grumpy. I've still been reading all the posts, just not commenting.

Emily said...

I missed some sort of web vow of silence? This I must know about.

I have never heard of this movie but I like all the things that you said (including the perfect wiper speed and I almost always use the intermittent wipe feature).

That's cool you finished season 4 Aim! The dvds for this season will come out shortly before they start the new season next year. It will be fun to be able to watch the last season in real time. It is frustrating though.

Sue said...

I noticed we haven't heard anything from Cat lately. I was going to ask you about it. I'm glad you and Matt liked the movie! It's one of those movies that kind of slipped through the cracks because other, bigger movies came out at the same time. But it deserves attention.

Haley said...

Hmm, I haven't heard of it but it sounds good! I really like Greg Kinnear a lot, one of my favorite actors. Oh and that lady is on Gilmore Girls. Can't stand that show. Haha. Marcus and I will probably watch this sometime!

Sue said...

Gilmore Girls, that's the one. I really think you guys would like this movie Haley. It's so great how all his kids rally behind him.

Haley said...

I just added it to our queue!

Dan W said...

Finally got around to seeing this yesterday (it'd been here from Netflix for more than a week). Like it but didn't love it. Neat that he had principles and I guess won one for the rights of inventors, but at way too high a cost in terms of his marriage and relationship with his children (though it was neat to see that seemingly repaired greatly by the end). Anyway, I guess the filmmaking was good but it was a pretty slow slosh most of the way for me....

What I don't get is why he didn't introduce as evidence of Ford's giving him the green light the fact that he rented that huge warehouse and got all the parts, etc. for gearing up to manufacture the wiper device. That's pretty strong evidence to me that you think you have an agreement!

Anyway, thanks for recommending it, Sue. I'm glad I finally saw it, as like many of the rest of you, it'd been on my list when it first came out.

my fun wv for a post about the car industry: cruis

Neaners said...

I finally just watched it tonight. I liked it a lot. Greg Kinnear is a great actor. I agree with Dan, that his plight cost him a lot especially his family but glad they supported him in the end.