'Genius' drama is Einstein tell-all
LOS ANGELES — The unparalleled brilliance and puckish wit? Check. The trademark wild mop of hair? Check. The marital infidelity and freewheeling sex?
Yes, check again for Albert Einstein, who in National Geographic’s miniseries “Genius” comes across as a full-blooded, hot-blooded figure who lived by his own rules, both scientific and domestic.
The 10-part series, starring Oscar-winning Geoffrey Rush (“Shine”) as the mature physicist and Johnny Flynn (“Lovesick”) as the budding one, also places Einstein firmly in a 20th-century world engulfed by political chaos and war.
“Genius” is both entertaining and intelligent, as befits a drama that’s based on Walter Isaacson’s acclaimed 2007 biography, “Einstein: His Life and Universe,” and is the Nat Geo channel’s first scripted series.
Also credit Ron Howard, who brought another complex scientist to the screen in “A Beautiful Mind,” the 2001 Academy Award-winning film about troubled mathematician John Nash.
There are some “Mind”-type cinematic flourishes in “Genius,” restrained special effects that provide a visual sense of Einstein’s thinking and the universe as he sees it and helpful for the science-challenged.
“Genius” hopscotches through time as it follows Einstein flailing as an unconventional student; a young lover and imperfect husband and parent; a Jew clashing with the German scientific establishment, and as the conflicted father of the atomic age.
“Genius” debuts at 9 p.m. today on National Geographic.
