In 1948, Alfred Kinsey published Sexual Behavior in the Human Male followed five years later by Sexual Behavior in the Human Female.  Up until the first publication, sex had been a taboo subject, cloaked in myths, secrecy and misinformation.  Kinsey approached the subject as a scientist, conducting more than 18,000 personal interviews and he wrote the book as a treatise.  Regardless, the book took the American public by storm and quickly became a best seller. 

            This docudrama presented some of Kinsey's background, his teaching career, the circumstances that led up to the books and the aftermath.  Liam Neesom portrayed Kinsey in contrast to his father, yet carrying forward his traits and as an obsessed critical scientist burdened with sensitivity for life in all of its forms and behaviors.  I thought it was a marvelous performance.  In fact, the characters of Kinsey and his love interest, Mac, played by Laura Linney came to life immediately for me and I completely forgot they were both actors.  John Lithgow as the elder Kinsey provided a clear picture of young Alfred's early environment. 

            The existence of Kinsey, his life work, the books and the subsequent revolution in American sexual mores that followed are historical fact.  So this screenplay doesn't have the plot points of a fictional story.  However it is thoroughly engaging and it had my total attention for the full two hours.  And there are pivotal events in this dramatized memoir that are intensely emotional. 

            I remember that at the time of the first book publication, there were smears as well as scientific criticisms of Kinsey's methodology.  In particular, the validity of his interviews was questioned.  That public and academic reaction is included in the film. 

            Kinsey died in 1956, only three years after the publication of Female.  The organization named for him, the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction, still operates at Indiana University.

            MPAA: Rated R for pervasive sexual content, including some graphic images and descriptions.

            Reviewed May 30, 2005                            Copyright 2005 Charles T. Markee