Flash of Genius (2009)

Bland and forgettable, director Marc Abraham’s debut trawls the tribulations of Robert Kearns (Greg Kinnear), real-life inventor of the intermittent windscreen wiper.

True, there are a couple of decent hooks: Kearns’ 12-year legal wrangle with the Ford corporation – who stole the professor’s idea – and the strain his obsession with seeking justice placed on his relationships and mental health.

While tales of little guys taking on heartless corporations may offer credit-crunch cheer, this one’s overly sentimental and doesn’t convince you that the prof’s humble auto-gadget is really worth all the fuss.

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