You have to hand it to the producers of Genius (Summit/Roadside, 6.10) for believing in a smarthouse period drama (and a darkly lighted one at that) about the legendary Max Perkins. An HBO/Showtime thing, yes. A Netflix or Amazon streamer, okay. But it doesn’t exactly scream nultiplex. British theatre director Michael Grandage has directed an excellent cast — Colin Firth, Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, Dominic West, Guy Pearce, Laura Linney. The script is by the esteemed John Logan. Alas, Variety‘s Peter Debruge, filing from Berlin, called it “dull” and “dun-colored.”
