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Genius

2016

Michael Grandage

Colin Firth, Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, Laura Linney ...

5.8

3,527

Drama When, one day of 1929, writer Thomas Wolfe, decided to keep the appointment made by Max Perkins, editor at Scribner's, he had no illusions: his manuscript would be turned down as had invariably been the case. But, to his happy amazement, his novel, which was to become "Look Homeward, Angel", was accepted for publication. The only trouble was that it was overlong (300 pages) and had to be reduced. Although reluctant to see his poetic ... [+]

	Author	Review
United States	David Rooney The Hollywood Reporter	"A classy but dull literary love affair (...) The story of Perkins' collaboration and friendship with Wolfe remains stubbornly resistant both to drama and emotion"	NEU
United States	Peter Debruge Variety	"While the talent involved should draw smarthouse crowds, the result has all the life of a flower pressed (...) Law bellows and gesticulates like a barn-raised carnival barker"	NEG
United States	Ann Hornaday The Washington Post	"An absorbing account of a relationship that, although obscure to most viewers, radically reshaped the American literary landscape of the 20th century"	POS
United Kingdom	Henry Barnes The Guardian	"['Genius'] is hammily acted, overstylised and lacking in subtlety (...) It’s like a Disneyland version of the era, with Firth and Law stuffed into the outsized costumes of literary greats (...) Rating: ★★ (out of five)"	NEG
United States	A. O. Scott The New York Times	"It's dispiriting to see a movie about interesting real-life characters reduce them to clichés, making them less vivid, less fascinating, less charismatic than they must have been"	NEG
United Kingdom	Wendy Ide Screendaily	"Theatrical prospects could be limited by the fact that large chunks of the film are dramatically inert, and those that aren’t are dominated by a performance by Law which feels too big for the screen"	NEU
United States	Rex Reed The New York Observer	"Colin Firth is brilliant (...) and the explosive performance by Jude Law as the wild, unpredictable and tragic Thomas Wolfe is one of the greatest triumphs of his career. I was spellbound (...) Rating: ★★★½ (out of four)"	POS
United States	Jessica Kiang IndieWire	"Your mileage will vary on 'Genius,' depending on where you place Law's performance on the irritating/entertaining spectrum and your tolerance for somewhat formulaic tales of creative ego"	NEU

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