Review of Genius (2016) by Herakles — 26 Dec 2018

Okay, this movie is not for everyone. And I did not know Jude Law, Colin Firth or Thomas Wolfe before I watched this movie.

And I understand the critics very well. But I have to give this movie credit for doing something not many films are able to do. This movie had an effect on my life. After watching this movie I wanted to know who Thomas Wolfe was and wanted to read his Books. At least I wanted to give it a try.

And after watching this Movie about 25 times (i lost count somewhere) and reading many of Wolfes Books I have to say that it had an effekt on me that no other film had. For about 2 years I was reading Books written by Thomas Wolfe for 5 hours a day and I only started this because of this Film.

I think this movie is not really made for a big amount of people. Because some will know Wolfes Books and they proparbly wont like the apperance he got in this movie. As far as I know Thomas Wolfe was not the extroverted guy Jude Law portraits here. He was a tall man and very introverted. And I can understand that people who knew Thomas Wolfe before watching this movie were kinda disapointed. But they cant have both. On the one hand they maybe wanted to see a movie about their favourite author and on the other hand they wanted Thomas Wolfe and his works get more attetion. So in this movie they got the second. Thomas Wolfe was changed to make it easier for people to connect to him and to make a movie the public may likes. And there are people like me who fall in love with Thomas Wolfe because of this movie. And thats in my mind a goal thats worth celebrating. So when you are interrested in writing or reading and you think about yourselfe as a "strange" person (i do), you will proparbly like this movie. And keep an open mind, maybe Tom can take your hand and show you his world.

Also read the books if you like reading. They are not easy to read but it is worth it. (I had the same smile on my face like Colin Firth in the Train when he finished to read the first side when I finished "Look Homeward, Angel" and I was happy in that moment happy on a very deep level.