Genius movie quotes tell the story of when writer Thomas Wolfe was given his shot at success by book editor Maxwell Perkins. The biographical drama was directed by Michael Grandage using a screenplay John Logan adapted from the book Max Perkins: Editor of Genius by A. Scott Berg. Genius opened in theaters on June 10, 2016.
In Genius, writer Thomas Wolfe (Jude Law) arrives in the New York office of book editor Maxwell Perkins (Colin Firth), who had previously worked with Ernest Hemingway (Dominic West) and F. Scott Fitzgerald (Guy Pearce), expecting Perkins to reject his book, Look Homeward, Angel. But to Wolfe's surprise, Perkins wanted to inform Wolfe that the book would be published.
What follows is perhaps a bromance between Wolfe and Perkins as the two spent more time with each other, including trying to edit a 5,000-page take on America that Wolfe had written, than they spend with their significant others (Nicole Kidman and Laura Linney), something that impacts all of them in ways they never expected.
Genius opened in theaters with other great summer 2016 films including Now You See Me 2, Me Before You, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.
Genius Movie Quotes,
What it Means to Be Alive
Thomas Wolfe: You of all people, just so damn scared to live!
Maxwell Perkins: There are other ways to live! God help anyone who loves you, Tom, cause for all your millions of beautiful words, you haven't the slightest idea of what it means to be alive.
An argument between Thomas and Maxwell gets heated when the two trade jabs with one another. Neither feels the other knows how to live but it's Maxwell's comments that dig deep for Thomas.
What We Editors Lose Sleep Over
Thomas Wolfe: Max thinks he created me. He crippled me! He deformed my work!
F. Scott Fitzgerald: He made all your dreams come true. He gave you a career.
...
Maxwell Perkins: That's what we editors lose sleep over, you know. Are you really making books better or just making them different?
Wolfe, Fitzgerald and Perkins all have different views on the role of an editor. Wolfe feels the editor has crippled him, Fitzgerald gives the editor credit for Wolfe's career and Perkins wonders if he's really helping or hurting the work.
I'm a Writer Too
Louise Sanders: You know I'm a writer too.
Thomas Wolfe: Is that so?
Louise Sanders: Max didn't tell you? I've been working on a play for quite some time now. It's about Pauline, Napoleon's sister.
Thomas Wolfe: Not a historical pageant, is it?
Louise Sanders: Well, it's attempting to be more modern.
Thomas Wolfe: I wrote a play once. I have the experience, I can tell you that. I found it an anemic form, lacking the multi-colored cloak of prose. So I dumped the forum and returned to my novels.
When Louise informs Thomas that she too is a writer, he doesn't exactly take her seriously. This only intensifies when she mentions she writes plays, a forum Thomas dumped, in his opinion, to return to something more important in the literary world.
The High Life
Thomas Wolfe: Max, this is Mrs. Bernstein
Aline Bernstein: Mr. Perkins
Thomas Wolfe: She's the first person who told me my writing was worth anything.
...
Maxwell Perkins: They're calling you a genius. God help you.
Thomas Wolfe: Now that I'm Scribner's best seller, I deserve a little of the high life.
A little bit of success, via having his book published, seems to be going to Thomas Wolfe's head. While it seems Thomas values Aline Bernstein, let's hope this newfound high life won't negatively impact that relationship.
The Book is 5,000 Pages Long
Louise Saunders: Max tells us you're working on a new book.
Thomas Wolfe: It's about America, all of it.
...
Thomas Wolfe: I have it, a new book. Bringing it in, guys.
...
Maxwell Perkins: We can do it.
Thomas Wolfe: How long?
Maxwell Perkins: Nine months, if you resist the temptation to add more.
Thomas Wolfe: I have to be able to add more.
Maxwell Perkins: The book is 5,000 pages long.
Thomas Wolfe: Point taken
...
Thomas Wolfe: All right, cut, cut, cut, cut
Thomas is inspired and wants to create a book about America. Unfortunately for him, his idea about writing about all of America, aka a 5,000-page first draft, isn't exactly something Maxwell could ever publish.
The Book's Only 100 Pages Shorter
Maxwell Perkins: Two years and the book's only 100 pages shorter.
Thomas Wolfe: I bring you stuff rich, ripe from by gut. You wouldn't do this to Hemingway, to Fitzgerald.
Maxwell Perkins: Stop it!
Thomas and Maxwell have a difference of opinion about the future of Thomas's next book. Thomas sees it as exceptional and feels Maxwell's criticism is unfair.
I Prefer to Get My Rejections in the Mail
Thomas Wolfe: Mr. Perkins
Maxwell Perkins: You must be Thomas Wolfe
Thomas Wolfe: I prefer to get my rejections in the mail but I wanted to meet you, the man who first read Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and said, 'genius.' Every son of a bitch publisher in New York hates my book.
Maxwell Perkins: Mr. Wolfe, we intend to publish your book.
Thomas Wolfe arrives at the office of Maxwell Perkins thinking that his work will be rejected. But to his surprise, Maxwell informs Thomas that they plan to publish his book.
I've Lost Him, to Your Husband
Aline Bernstein: You've been working every night for two years. Do you have any idea what it's like coming home to an empty apartment every night?
...
Aline Bernstein: I've lost him, to your husband.
...
Louise Sanders: Your daughters, they want their father back.
Maxwell Perkins: My job is what I do... A writer like Tom, I get one in a lifetime.
Louise Sanders: You get your daughters for the same lifetime.
Both spouses/partners of Thomas and Maxwell are feeling the pain that their men are spending more time with each other than at home with the family. Aline and Louise try to talk them out of it, but are not exactly successful.
Will Anyone Care About Thomas Wolfe
Thomas Wolfe: I'm mighty glad to see you, Scott. I'm rambling around for months now. Haven't had anyone to talk to about work.
F. Scott Fitzgerald: Ugh, work
Thomas Wolfe: I mean, who better to talk to, the man who created something immortal. More and more I trouble myself with that, the legacy. Will anyone care about Thomas Wolfe in 100 years? 10 years?
F. Scott Fitzgerald: When I was young I asked myself that question everyday. Now I ask myself, 'Can I write one good sentence?'
Thomas Wolfe: How can you say that? Don't you want to be remembered?
F. Scott Fitzgerald: This side of paradise has just put out a print for the first time in 18 years. Gatsby will go next.
Thomas Wolfe: That will never happen!
F. Scott Fitzgerald: You know how much I made on royalties on Gatsby last year? Two dollars and 13 cents. I don't mind. I'm working now.
Thomas Wolfe sits down with fellow writer F. Scott Fitzgerald to talk about their legacies. But as Fitzgerald states about The Great Gatsby, legacy doesn't always result in earnings.
I Never Really Had a Friend
Thomas Wolfe: All my life, until I met you, I never really had a friend.
...
Thomas Wolfe: There's one paragraph I have to add to the book.
Maxwell Perkins: My god, if you start adding paragraphs, we're sunk.
Thomas Wolfe: This book is dedicated to Maxwell Evarts Perkins. The author hopes this book will prove worthy of him.
Despite strict orders to add no new pages, Thomas arrives to inform Maxwell that he must add another page. Once Maxwell learns what this page will say, he thinks he can allow it.