Review of Genius (2016) by Chris C — 21 Sep 2016

I'm not sure why the critics have been so hard on this movie. There can be no doubt that Wolf suffered from bouts of manic depression, something Jude Law can only accommodate in a limited way since we don't have any film footage of Wolfe's peculiarities and physical behavior.

The readings from Wolf'e's books are powerful and yes, those lines do reveal the genius of Wolfe that is uniquely American in flavor and content, full of strong emotion, and revelations of life we fail to consider in our superficial age of technology and endless entertainments.

The movie depicts in a very beautiful way the dangers of genius and the need for someone of common sense and practical wisdom to put boundaries on that genius, not so much to restrain its expression, but to protect it from the destruction of the wilderness.

Perkins keeps Wolfe grounded in the things that are more important than art or fame, and in that sense saves both the man and the artist. There is some excellence in this movie that I think the critics missed.

The biography of Maxwell Perkins, Editor of Genius, by A. Scott Berg had a deep affect on me as an aspiring writer in the late seventies. Writers need people like Maxwell Perkins, and there are very few writers who ever find them.

The ones who do produce great books. Any writer will tell you that. The editor is as much a part of the creative process as the writer, at least when it comes to literature that ventures along the road less traveled.

This movie is both deeper and better than most people are willing, or able, to admit.