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Greg Kinnear in Flash of Genius (2008)

Goofs

Flash of Genius

Edit

Continuity

During the scene in the coffee house between Dr. Kearns and his son Dennis, the newspaper changes suddenly from being held between Kearns' hands, to lying on the table, to back between his hands. Interestingly, the actor is using it regardless of its position to emphasize his emotion, for example by squeezing it between his hands or tapping it with his finger as it lies on the table.

Factual errors

Kearns says in his interview with Ford that he is a graduate of Case Western. Case Western Reserve University was not created until the 1967 merger of Case Institute of Technology and Western Reserve University. Kearns' patent for the wiper was filed Dec. 1, 1964, well before the merger of the two universities. Kearns' 1963 meeting with Ford also happened before the merger of the universities. Kearns received his PhD from Case Institute of Technology.
In the scene showing closing arguments in court, Kearns goes last with his main closing, after the Ford lawyers. As plaintiff, Kearns would give his main closing first (with a chance for rebuttal).

Anachronisms

As the Kearns family is proposing a toast in the diner (celebrating his invention), you can see a white 2008 Acura pulling out of the garage across the street.
When the invention is to be demonstrated to Ford, Kearns gets under the dash then shows a modern (blade type) fuse and says "It's just a fuse" - but the modern fuses were not in use in the 1960s.
The period was between 1967 and 1974. In 1970 the main character, Bob Kearns, took a bus to Washington, DC. We see it is a Greyhound bus. However, that model type bus, the MC9, had not been built for several years in the future.
The 1969 Lincoln Mark III he drives to Ford, with the invention installed, had variable-speed hydraulic wiper motors running off the power steering pump. They were used on Mark IIIs and Thunderbirds because Mercedes used them, and they were very quiet. It wasn't until the 1972 models that they had electric intermittent wipers on them.
A 1976 Buick Electra Limited is shown in one scene, even though this part of the film took place around 1970.

Character error

Early on Robert, as a "professor of mechanical engineering", said a pause in the wiper couldn't be done mechanically. But it can - if he knew how a clock works, a cog and clutch make up the escapement to intermittently drive the hands by a mainspring at even tension. His electronic design, however, had two fewer dragging parts to wear down.

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Greg Kinnear in Flash of Genius (2008)
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