Kinsey (2-Disc Special Edition) (DVD)

I missed Kinsey in theaters, and honestly I wasn't too torn up about it. The film looked slow and dull to me, but I could not have been further off the mark as two brilliant actors in Liam Neeson and Laura Linney lead an equally brilliant supporting cast in one of the greatest movies of 2004.

I had no idea who Alfred Kinsey was, other than knowing he had written some sex study called the Kinsey Reports, but beyond that I went into this one knowing virtually nothing, but trust me, you come out of it knowing almost more than you wish you ever did. The film takes a look at the subject of sex through Kinsey's eyes and tells it in a playful yet serious manner so as not to offend those that are easily offended as well as leaving in enough so that even the most open viewers may find it a little shocking.

Alfred Kinsey (Liam Neeson) was a man who rebelled against his pious father (John Lithgow) as a child and was drawn to a world of science, something his father frowned on. Kinsey soon became a Harvard educated zoologist specializing in the study of gall wasps and took his passion for science to Indiana University, where he taught biology until one day a couple of students changed his entire focus.

When a young couple entered his office in search for answers concerning sex Kinsey became frustrated at the fact that the subject was not being broached in school and he set out to not only teach everything he knew of sex, but to make it his life's work to educate the public on the taboo topic.

Kinsey's team of scientists is made up of three fabulous actors in Chris O'Donnell, Timothy Hutton and the rising star of Peter Sarsgaard, and the four of them set out to learn all there is to know about people's sexual habits and bring the truth to the surface, but in the process the forbidden subject certainly ruffles more than a few feathers.

Perfectly cast, written and directed this is one of those bio pics that would be worth a second look, but not in large bunches. While Kinsey is a great movie and this 2-Disc DVD set carries some good special features, I doubt that you will be frequently putting it in your DVD player merely on the basis of the subject matter. The intricate details of sex are not exactly stimulating or erotic therefore they often times become somewhat overbearing during the course of a two hour film.

As for the special features, besides a wealth of deleted scenes and a gag reel there are only three features worth mentioning.

First there is the 90 minute long making-of feature on disc two, which at first may seem daunting, especially if you watch it immediately after the film like I did (not recommended), but it has some great stuff in there, primarily centered around all the trouble the production crew had to go through just to get the film greenlit. Some of the most fascinating stuff though comes from writer/director Bill Condon as he describes the process he went through in writing the film and the way he came to finally figure out how he was going to tell the story.

Next is the audio commentary with director Bill Condon. Now, if you watch this after watching the feature length making-of featurette don't think you are just going to hear the same thing over again, but I will tell you that approximately the first 20 minutes of the commentary will sound familiar, just skip over it to get to the new stuff.

Finally you can take your own Kinsey Institute Sex Survey on disc two, and don't worry it is all private, no one will know just how perverted you are, so you better not lie!

Overall, this is an excellent collection and a movie certainly worth checking out, but as far as buying I don't think I can recommend it, seeing how I don't think it is one open to multiple viewings. I am not sure if or when I will ever watch it again, and I really liked it.