Kinsey

Herald rating: **

Liam Neeson in shambling, sensitive mode as Alfred Kinsey, the zoologist whose name will forever be linked with the first attempts to understand and explain human sexual behaviour. The film traces his life in a series of vignettes from his childhood, dominated by a stern and demanding minister-father (John Lithgow, again); university studies; his first, fumbling relationship with student Clara McMillan (Laura Linney), who will become his wife and fellow researcher.

They recruit a team of brilliant scientists - Wardell Pomeroy (Chris O'Donnell), Clyde Martin (Peter Sarrsgard), Paul Gebhard (Timothy Hutton) - who, as Kinsey's studies reveal, crossed the line between scientific, social and sexual intimacy. As we know, that ends in tears after bedtime.

* DVD, Video rental out now