Ingenious

2009
5.7| 1h25m| R| en
Details

A rags-to-riches story of two friends, a small-time inventor and a sharky salesman, who hit rock bottom before coming up with a gizmo that becomes a worldwide phenomenon.

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Reviews

Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!
Konterr Brilliant and touching
SeeQuant Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction
Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.
Lee Eisenberg Jeff Balsmeyer's "Ingenious" focuses on a pair of inventors about whom I had never heard. Dallas Roberts and Jeremy Renner play the friends who are trying to find the next great innovation, a process that isn't without a few challenges. Their great achievement is something that looks as if it would be pretty neat to own. Sometimes when I see movies that look at these topics, it surprises me that I'd never heard of the subject (in this case the kind of bottle opener that they create). Now that I know about it I just might try to go out and find one of those bottle openers. In the meantime I recommend this movie. It's not a masterpiece but still worth seeing.
kosmasp Renner wasn't big when he made this movie. Which is exactly why this only came out after his Avengers and Bourne outputs. Which is a shame, because the movie, which is based on a true story, is actually pretty decent. The acting in it too. And not only Renner, who's just a side character in the whole thing.We get a fairly normal movie with its ups and downs. And even without knowing the real story behind this, we know where our characters will land at the end of the movie. Well it would be a surprise, if it is a surprise for anyone watching. What I didn't know, was what exactly would be the reason for that to happen. Who'd knew it would be that? And if they did, could they have come up with something like that too? Can we still?
David Jones First, I would read Fnorful's review. He pretty well hits the nail on the head.I would add two things: This movie is kind of slow. It tends to hit the same character and story beats repeatedly up until the third act, which is when it really gets going.But the biggest flaw in this movie, for me, is the goal of the main characters. Their goal is simply to be rich and successful. And they want to do it by inventing . . . something.Of course, we can all relate to this ambition. Who doesn't want to be rich and successful? The problem for me is, they don't really care how they do it. They just want to invent some piece of crap that people will buy in quantity. They don't particularly care if they're filling a particular need (except their own need to be successful) or making the world a better place or even doing it to win the love and admiration of someone (which happens just as kind of a side effect).SPOILERS FOLLOW I never would have believed that the world would fall for the talking bottle opener, but apparently it did. I wasn't really with them until they brought out the Homer Simpson version, and suddenly the light bulb went on for me! But that happens about 95 minutes into the movie.Anyway, to sum up, the movie is beautifully directed, shot, and acted. It has some nice story turns I didn't see coming. I liked the characters. But to push it over the top for me, I would have liked their final invention to be something I could really get behind--something I really *wanted* to see succeed.I would have liked to have thought, "Okay, all that other stuff they were working on seems like crap. THIS is it." But frankly, I think the dreaming dog watch was a better invention.
preppy-3 Matt (Dallas Roberts) and best buddy Sam (Jeremy Renner) are always inventing things...and are unable to save them. Matt's patient wife Gina (Ayelet Zurer) loves him but is getting fed up with it and is ready to leave him. Matt is depressed but can't let go of his dream.Purportedly based on a true story but you could have fooled me! This is yet another story about a failed man at the end of his rope who (improbably) comes up with an invention that makes him famous and wealthy. This plot has been done to death and this adds nothing new to the story. I saw it at the Provincetown Film Festival and I'm guessing I was in the minority--the audience applauded long and loud. I was bored out of my mind and knew what was coming every step of the way. It gets a 3 because the actors are attractive and VERY good (especially Roberts and Zurer), it's well-directed and there's some beautiful cinematography here but (all in all) this is boring and predictable.

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