Genius

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Michael Grandage/Starring: Colin Firth, Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, Laura Linney, Guy Pearce and Dominic West

Films about literary figures seldom make much of a splash in movie theaters. It's understandable, considering how difficult it is to make writers and writing cinematic. The filmmakers next best option is to dramatize the writer's life, focusing on anything and everything salacious or tragic. In Michael Grandage's directorial debut, he does what filmmakers making movies about writers almost never do: he dramatizes some of the writing process but he doesn't spare us the more unseemly aspects of the writer's life.

Films about literary figures have a marketing handicap; they appeal to a very narrow sliver of the movie-going audience and if one is unfamiliar with said personage's career, it becomes necessary for the filmmaker to demonstrate why we would should care about the subject in a compelling narrative. Does the director accomplish this task here? In Genius, Grandage has his work cut out for him for very few people know or care about the legendary literary editor Maxwell Perkins, who can be partially credited for shaping the works of the authorial giants Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and in this story; Thomas Wolfe. Of course a ticket buyer must care a little about Thomas Wolfe or at least be aware of his imprint on 20th century American literature to appreciate the movie. Therein lies the main problem with this film. From casual conversations I've had with movie-goers who have seen it at the local art cinema theater I frequent, it's apparent not many know who Maxwell Perkins was and are only slightly more aware of Thomas Wolfe. But that really shouldn't be an impediment to liking the movie if the director and the screenwriter strike a balance between being informative and entertaining.

I came to the movie expecting little but after seeing the film, I can say it wasn't painful or dull (my familiarity with both men may have helped) though it won't set the world of cinema on fire. Grandage's film is what I expected it to be; well-acted and tasteful but it didn't leave me in awe, which is too bad; given Perkins' extraordinary talent as an editor and Wolfe's incredible writing.

Based on A. Scott Berg's biography; Max Perkins: Editor of Genius, Grandage's film gives us a sense of who the editor was by focusing on a particular chapter of his life--late 20s', early to mid 30s'--when he took on an author every publishing house in New York City had previously passed on. Colin Firth plays Perkins while Wolfe, his brilliant discovery, is played by Jude Law, with the same sort of exuberance the author is said to have had in abundance.

In the early scenes, we see Perkins and F. Scott Fitzgerald (Guy Pearce), in the editor's office at Charles Scribner's and Sons. Fitzgerald, at the nadir of his career; in financial straits and tending to a mentally ill wife, accepts a kind, monetary gift from Perkins. The gesture tells us something about Perkins, who gently reminds Fitzgerald of the advances on his next novel, which he has already exhausted.

Not long after, Perkins becomes engrossed with a manuscript he can't put down. We see him read it on a train-ride to his home in the suburbs, north of New York City. We see his comfortable home, where his loving daughters and wife Louise (Laura Linney) welcome him warmly. But upon entering his house and after saying hello to his family, Perkins finds a quiet place in his daughter's closet in which to read the manuscript.

Some time later, Perkins meets with the author; Thomas Wolfe; in his office. Wolfe, unlike the composed Perkins, is grandiose and dramatic, which seem even more hyperbolic with his North Carolinian drawl. Though Wolfe has shopped his manuscript to every publishing house, he believes he has met with another rejection until Perkins informs him he wants to publish his book. Wolfe's response is characteristically ebullient but the sizeable stack of typewritten pages presents a daunting challenge. The two begin work in earnest a few days later.

A close friendship forms between the editor and writer as they hammer away on what will eventually become one of Wolfe's major works: Look Homeward Angel. As Perkins comes to know Wolfe, he finds he has been living with a theatrical costume designer named Aline Bernstein (Nicole Kidman); who has left her staid, dull husband for the writer she finds exciting. But as the two men become closer, Bernstein begins to resent Perkins; feeling Wolfe has forsaken her for the editor. Wolfe and his manuscript begin to dominate Perkin's life, keeping him away from home and his family. Another problem arises when Wolfe continues to add to the 5000 page novel Perkins must whittle down to a respectable length. Perkins constant struggle to keep Wolfe from writing more becomes trying.

Eventually, the book is completed and published. Perkins and Wolfe await the critiques in suspense, which turn out to be favorable. Wolfe presents Perkins with another challenge when his second manuscript--several boxes of writings--arrives in his office.

Though they develop a firm friendship, Wolfe's personal foibles become vexing to Perkins and those around him. Wolfe's self-centeredness becomes a bit much, as the writer's passion for talking and talking about himself becomes tiresome. A key scene in the film, which takes place during a dinner gathering with Perkins, Louise, Wolfe, F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald in attendance, becomes a disaster. Wolfe's cruelty shows during dinner, when he behaves insensitively toward an already fragile Zelda, which leaves the gathering bewildered and dismayed. Wolfe also behaves selfishly with Aline when she asks him to attend a very important theatrical performance, only to be rebuffed. Aline then issues an ultimatum, which doesn't end well for her. Later, she warns Perkins that he too will be cast aside when Wolfe no longer has any need for him.

Perkins friendship and working relationship continue with the editing of Wolfe's second novel Of Time and The River though we see a crack begin to form. Wolfe accuses Perkins of being merciless in his editing while the editor suggests that his friend may be fielding offers from rival publishing houses.

During a scene on a beach, where Wolfe walks alone, we see him collapse. He is subsequently hospitalized. Wolfe rushes to be with his friend and discovers the prognosis to be "tuberculosis of the brain." A heartfelt scene follows when Perkins and Wolfe share a few words at his hospital bed, which precedes a tragedy that doesn't feel all that tragic when one considers how irritating Wolfe seemed to be--at least onscreen.

I found it odd that a movie about the American literary world of the thirties would be cast with British and Australian actors; Laura Linney being the exception. No matter. Firth is outstanding in any role and is an interesting Perkins. Of course Law has the juicier, more outsize character but I couldn't help wonder if the real Wolfe was as flamboyant and annoying as he is portrayed onscreen. I found Law's performance to be hammy, and seems all the more so next to Firth's imperturbable Perkins.

The look of the film is fashionable gray and muted brown--colors often used these days in any film that takes place in America before 1950 to give us a sense of something antiquated. It has become tiresome but I guess it serves its visual purpose here.

I found the dramatic tension between Firth and Law to be adequate. It didn't burn red hot but like everything else in the film, it worked satisfactorily. If that statement isn't exactly a rolling boil it's because the director or cast can't convey the passion of a writer or the exhausting effort necessary to make great novels. We can hardly fault Grandage in that respect. Though we're given a fly-on-the-wall perspective of some of the editing process, how exciting was it in real life?

Movies about writers will never be as thrilling as the writing itself. I can't count the number of well-meaning biopics about writers and poets that end up like dusty, unread books on a bookshelf. I can't even think of a classic film about writers or poets that isn't a documentary, can you? If you can, please share it with me. The one exception is Barfly, written by Charles Bukowski about Charles Bukowski, which is offbeat and funny. But movie-makers never give up. One day I may see a brilliant film about a brilliant writer. Until that day, feel free to see Genius, or better yet, read Thomas Wolfe's early novels, which bear Maxwell Perkin's brilliant stamp.