What I Watched -- Flash of Genius

I was working on a mind-numbing task not too long ago, and picked out Flash of Genius on Netflix to entertain me while I did it.

There is a saying that "the truth is stranger than fiction."  Sometimes the truth is more astonishing than fiction.  Assuming (and that is an assumption) that most of the content of this movie is accurate, it is truly astonishing.

It's the story of Bob Kearns (Greg Kinnear), the inventor of the intermittent windshield wiper motor.  When his invention was stolen by the big auto dealers, he sued.  When his attorney wanted him to settle for $500,000, he refused, and fired his attorney.  When Ford offered him $30,000,000, he turned them down because they refused to admit that they had stolen his idea. 

(These are spoilers, but not very spoilery.)  In the movie, Dr. Kearns tried the case against Ford himself, having decided he could do it better than anyone else.  And he won.  Eventually, Ford agreed on a post-judgment settlement of $10,200,000 (nearly double the actual judgment) in order to terminate all post-trial litigation.

Dr. Kearns went on to litigate against Chrysler, winning $18,700,000 plus interest.  He did not prevail in further litigation against General Motors or any foreign car makers.

The film is an odd combination of inspirational and terribly sad.  It's evident how passionate Dr. Kearns was about his invention, and anything else he set his mind to untangling -- and his mind was certainly impressive.  But it's sad to see how the remainder of his life was affected by that brilliant mind.

Bottom line: a great story I can't believe I hadn't heard before.