"Genius Catcher" is a biographical film that tells the story between the genius book editor Max Perkins and the genius writer Thomas Wolfe. Most of the films adapted from real events will be because of their authenticity. It makes people feel deeply, but the film is disappointing, and the whole story seems bland.
The pacing of the film is very fast, which is good to begin with. In just a few shots, the personalities of Max and Thomas are clearly portrayed. The former is calm, calm and even a little cold, while the latter is excited, enthusiastic and even a little crazy. The sharp contrast of personalities indicates that the contact between the two will be one. A sparkling collision. However, this fast rhythm gradually turned into a disaster. The story between the two geniuses quickly left only a fierce dispute. Although there are many exquisite lines, the shaping of the relationship between the characters is not. Make a three-pointer. Although the two protagonists have distinct personality outlines, they lack characteristic behaviors and words to further create a full and three-dimensional image, resulting in the characters always staying in the initial impression, as simple as a symbol, and the description of the relationship between the two, It's very thin from beginning to end, making it difficult to understand deeply. In this way, this fast pace brings people not excitement, but indifference.
Friends who have watched "Inside Out" probably still remember that there is a thing called key memory in psychology, which refers to something that happens at a certain moment, leaves a deep impression in memory, and eventually influence the individual's future behavior. I think storytelling also needs to use key memories to emphasize the theme of the story. In "Genius Catcher", the main story line is the relationship between Max and Thomas, they have experienced the establishment of friendship, gradually deepened, and then the friendship broke down and It's not hard to imagine that the twists and turns will affect a lot of emotional ups and downs. However, the look and feel of the film is quite calm. Why? Because in the narrative process of the story, there is no powerful plot to form an impressive key memory. Whether it is the establishment or rupture of friendship, it only stays on the surface of the image and oral lines, and does not penetrate into the inner emotions of the audience. Everything The feeling is all light, it can only be said that this is a failure of the plot arrangement.
When the story feels bland, the actors' performances are quite intense, especially Nicole Kidman and Jude Law. The two's intense performances are out of tune with the whole plot, making people feel exaggerated and embarrassed. Only Max, played by Colin Firth, is more commensurate with the plot due to his restrained character. At the same time, Nicole Kidman's role is redundant. Throughout the story, her role as Thomas' wife is only a supporting role to set off Thomas' over-obsessedness and love for work after he became famous. Excessive pursuit of fame and fortune, in fact, as long as you touch the water, there is no need for a large-scale performance. I don’t know if it is Nicole Kidman’s big-name identity that forced the director to add drama to her, but she plays a large part in the role. It is indeed a failure, making the already dull story more boring, the audience is watching the story about the genius, not the story of the genius his wife complaining. In addition, I personally think that the plot of Scott and Hemingway in the film can also be greatly simplified.
The only impression the film gives is: it turns out that book editors have so much power! As for the legend of the relationship between the two geniuses that the story wanted to show, it turned into a bowl of plain boiled water, so that at the end of the film Thomas died young and Max was sad. This kind of plot should have set off a climax of the plot and emotional waves , it gives the feeling that it is desperately trying to invest, or helpless to play.
This work has a strong lineup, with a good theme, showing a lot of ambition, and maybe want to hit the Oscars, but in terms of quality, it is not a little bit worse. It is said that at the previous film festival, the word of mouth directly collapsed Now, I personally think it's a bit bland, but it's not really bad. The key is that people's expectations for the film are too high.
PS: Anyway, Colin Firth is still great~~~~~~
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