- Actors: Nicole Kidman, Jude Law, Colin Firth, Guy Pearce
- Director: Michael Grandage
- Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC, Widescreen
- Language: English
- Region: Region 1
- Number of discs: 1
- Rated: Parents Strongly CautionedPG-13
- Studio: LIONSGATE
- DVD Release Date: September 6, 2016
- Run Time: 98 minutes
Thankfully Genius is not a biopic in the most
traditional sense, which often makes it difficult to guess the direction or
point of the story being told. Untraditional as it may be, the film is
biographical in nature in that the screenplay is based on a non-fiction book
about famed editor Maxwell Perkins, though it focuses exclusively on the time
in his career spent with writer Thomas Wolfe. But what the film lacks is
thematic consistency and a direction for the true story to go in, before the
natural end becomes a narrative closer in replacement of actual resolution.
What the film has is a great period look in the production design, and a cast
at the top of their game under the direction of first-time filmmaker Michael
Grandage, better known for his work in the theater.
The film begins
with Perkins (Colin Firth) reading the novel of an ambitious new writer, Wolfe
(Jude Law), and deciding to publish the work. Those unfamiliar with the process
of publishing a novel might assume that this is all there is, but Perkins took
an active role as an editor in shaping Wolfe’s final result. They worked
together closely, bickering about length and the necessity of certain passages
of prose, and ultimately publishing “Look Homeward, Angel,” which went on to be
highly praised and well received. This process was repeated tenfold for Wolfe’s
second novel, which threatened to destroy his marriage to Aline Bernstein
(Nicole Kidman).
We are also
privy to the family life of Perkins, married to the supportive Louise (Laura
Linney) and father of four girls of varying ages. This dynamic is often in
stark contrast of the relationship between Bernstein and Wolfe, which is
volatile. It also shows the kind of man that Perkins was, as dedicated to his
family as he was his work. Wolfe was a man obsessed with his own work, often
narcissistically so. And both of these actors play into the odd-couple dynamic
provided by these attributes, providing the film an unlikely friendship as the
core of the narrative.
Wolfe was not
the first literary genius that Perkins had worked with, and it shows the
negative side to the pressures of fame and celebrity in the faded talents of F.
Scott Fitzgerald (Guy Pearce). Perkins was also an editor to Ernest Hemingway
(Dominic West), whose demeanor is far less depressing in this film, though
knowledge of his eventual fate must cast some doubts about the sincerity of his
attitude. These characters only make brief appearances in the story, but they
serve a dual purpose. They show how Perkins cared about his writers beyond what
fame and fortune they might provide, and they foreshadow a fate that Wolfe’s
arrogance may guarantee him. Ultimately, this is a film about creative drive,
though it doesn’t have a screenplay willing to investigate the themes with the
same dedication as the cast.
The DVD release
of Genius includes two featurettes,
praising key figures in the making of the movie. There is a featurette about
Grandage, while the other investigates the real-life characters featured in the
film. Both are around 15 minutes in length.
Entertainment Value:
7/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 7.5/10
Historical
Significance: 6/10
Special Features: 5/10
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