Directed by Michael Grandage (in his directorial debut) and starring Jude Law (The Talented Mr. Ripley; Cold Mountain; Artificial Intelligence: AI; sherlock Holmes; The Talented Mr. Ripley), Colin Firth (The King's Speech; a Single Man; Bridget Jones's Diary; Pride and Prejudice; Love Actually), Nicole Kidman (Moulin Rouge!; The Hours; Rabbit Hole; The Paperboy; Eyes Wide shut; Strangerland), Guy Pearce (L.A. Confidential, The Hurt Locker; Iron Man 3; The King's Speech) and Dominic West (The Affair, Chicago; Testament of Youth; Johnny English Reborn; Mona Lisa Smile).
Biopic, 104 mins, 6+, in English
Set in the late 1920s and 1930s, the film follows Max Perkins (Colin Firth), as book editor of Scribner in New York City who helped Ernest Hemingway (Dominic West), F. Scott Fitzgerald (Guy Pearce) and other authors, including Thomas Wolfe (Jude Law).
The nostalgic slow-moving drama sees Jude Law excel as Thomas Wolfe, a new writer whose drafts have been rejected by many other publishers in the city. Max Perkins, though, sees the potential and works with Thomas Wolfe to shorten his voluminous texts into books that will sell and will be read. He is very careful not to tell authors what to write, rather he works with them for them to be able to make the changes themselves and be content in understanding why.
While the setting is fascinating, particularly when the audience sees F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway, the people, and their personalities and the lives they live, the story is about Max Perkins and his way with people, with the authors who are creative geniuses, but they see him as the genius in being able to package their works to the public.
We see Thomas Wolfe and his relationship with Aline Bernstein (Nicole Kidman), who has housed and clothed and fed him while he has been investing his time over a period of years into his writing. One scene, in particular, lays bare their relationship, when he refuses to attend the openign night of a major drama production in which she is the set designer. His unblinking focus, drive and devotion to his work over-rules any other issue in his life which is all-consumed with his prose.
Jude Law steals the show by putting in a tremendous performance as Thomas Wolfe, overshadowing the main character, Max Perkins, portrayed as a thoughtful, careful character by Colin Firth, with a wife and five children of his own, whom he also neglects in order to hand-hold Thomas Wolfe whom he sees as a once-in-a-lifetime authom cum opportunity.
A sterling film, particularly for those interested in literature.
