[I]Genre: Drama/Biopic.
Stars Jude Law, Colin Firth, Nicole Kidman, Laura Linney, Guy Pearce, Dominic West.[/I]
I’ve had this movie taking up space on my hard drive for a while now afraid to watch it perhaps because having watched many dramas this year that turned out to be a disappointment (and I love dramas) I thought this too would take up a lot of my idle time. I wa pleasantly surprised.
Max Perkins, played by Colin Firth, is a calm, classy, self-controlled editor at a New York publishing house who on receiving an oft-rejected manuscript by novelist Thomas Wolfe (Jude Law) immediately recognises the genius. What follows is a beautiful story of Mr. Perkins, the man who never takes off his hat, trying to tame the loud, unfiltered and occasionally contrite Wolfe as they work themselves half to death to present Wolfe’s pile of words to the public in its best possible form.
[ATTACH=full]72222[/ATTACH]
The film also touches on Wolfe’s and Perkin’s other relationships as side plots. Nicole Kidman plays the obsessed, with a flair for the dramatic, older wife of Tom Wolfe; Laura Linney is the less appreciated wife of Max Perkin.
This is one of those rare films that you have to look for in order to find it. The acting is top notch and undoubtedly enjoyable even on second watch. The de-saturated sepia colours help carry the impression of old times.
Despite what felt like a rushed ending Genius is an entertaining movie with a great plot. It is definitely for a niche audience and am pretty sure a good number of people will not like it (as much as I did). I greatly enjoyed the film. The 104 minutes runtime seemed shorter as the film advances fairly fast. A pretty good way to spend an evening - worth every minute.