For his last film, Gods and Monsters, director Bill Condon chose to explore the character of another director, James Whale, a man whose work took centre stage while its creator neatly evaded the limelight. The cultural impact of Whale’s work, particularly the seminal Frankenstein, can still be felt today, yet Whale’s name is scarcely known outside of film schools and universities. In stark contrast, Condon’s latest work finds him examining the life of a man for whom the Frankenstein story may have been a little too close for comfort, a man who became an overnight celebrity for all the wrong reasons.

Dr. Alfred C. Kinsey, or 'Prok' to his friends, is frequently held responsible for single-handedly kick-starting the sexual revolution which gripped the western world from the euphoric post-war years until the outbreak of AIDS. Revered and reviled in equal measure, Kinsey’s lasting contribution to large-scale promiscuity amounted to little more than two scientific surveys of human sexual behaviour, but they were enough to capture the global imagination. From his early career, as an authority on gall wasps, to the publication of his groundbreaking 'Sexual Behaviour of the Human Male', Kinsey, played beautifully by Liam Neeson, is portrayed as an obsessive, prosaic academic whose interest in sex comprises a titanic struggle between science and emotion. What begins as a scientific triumph ultimately pushes him to the brink of destruction, his work grossly misunderstood not only by the public but also by Kinsey himself.

A low-key film with no delusions of box-office grandeur, Kinsey nonetheless resorts on occasion to familiar mainstream conventions, as though uncertain of its cinematic merits. That it tries too hard to please is perhaps rather ironic, given the subject matter. The acting, however, is impeccable throughout while the script manages to be both deeply touching and genuinely amusing. A film about the science of sex is always going to benefit from a good helping of comedy, and Condon moves effortlessly between light and shade, blending serious biography with laugh-out-loud scenes without compromising the ultimately serious intent. A heavyweight supporting cast, including Chris O’Donnel, Laura Linney and John Lithgow, make light work of the often demanding material, allowing Kinsey to develop into that rarest of things; an informative and educational film which is actually a pleasure to sit through.

For anyone with an interest in the major cultural upheavals of the twentieth century, and in particular the shy, sexually repressed man who awoke the world to its primal desires, the film is a must-see. But be warned – some of the content is not for the easily offended. And all the better for it, I’d say.

Jim Batty, Feb 2005