Review: ‘Genius,’ a Portrait of the Man Behind the Equation

Geoffrey Rush as Albert Einstein

National Geographic, a network hoping to fashion itself a new image, has invested quite a lot in “Genius,” its first scripted series, which begins on Tuesday night. The commitment has paid off admirably.

Judging from the first two episodes, this is a skillfully acted, richly detailed historical show that would not be out of place on PBS or a high-end pay-cable outlet. It’s a dramatization of the life of Albert Einstein, who was not the wild-haired caricature that you may have thought, at least not when he was young.

“Genius” intends to be an anthology series about the lives of historical figures who fit the title, and Einstein is a natural choice to kick it off. (A second season was announced last week but not which “genius” will be the subject; the network says that will be revealed during the Season 1 finale.) Not only did he revolutionize physics, but he also lived during calamitous times, including two world wars, and had an eventful personal life.

The 10-episode first season, based on Walter Isaacson’s book “Einstein: His Life and Universe” (2007), weaves those threads together to create a portrait of the very human fellow behind the immortal equation. The premiere opens in Berlin in 1922, when Einstein (1879-1955) was in his 40s and a renowned figure in physics, but it soon flashes back to the 1890s, when Einstein was a student with a restless mind and a knack for irritating his instructors.

The show repeatedly jumps from the older Einstein to the younger, and from one actor to another. The producers made their serious intentions clear with the casting of the older Einstein: It’s Geoffrey Rush, an Oscar, Tony and Emmy winner. But “Genius” has a certain brashness to it as well, and the choice for the younger Einstein embodies it: Johnny Flynn, who was perhaps best known for the cheeky British series “Scrotal Recall” (later retitled “Lovesick”).

Both actors are quite watchable, and presumably as the series goes along it will close the gap between Mr. Flynn’s cocksure, somewhat impudent Einstein and Mr. Rush’s scholarly one. Mr. Flynn gets the most work in the first two episodes as the young Einstein looks for a place where his intellectual curiosity will be encouraged, eventually finding his way to the Zurich Polytechnic Institute. Along the way he demonstrates a recklessness in romance that will still be with him decades later (something we know because the opening scene showed us Mr. Rush’s Einstein having enthusiastic sex with a woman not his wife).

At Zurich, Einstein becomes smitten with a bright, determined fellow student, even though he is already in a relationship with someone else. Samantha Colley, a relative newcomer, is simply great as this new love interest, Mileva Maric, who would become Einstein’s first wife; some have argued she also may have contributed to his breakthroughs. Ms. Colley perfectly captures the strength and frustration of a brilliant woman who was well ahead of her time.

Both actors are quite watchable, and presumably as the series goes along it will close the gap between Mr. Flynn’s cocksure, somewhat impudent Einstein and Mr. Rush’s scholarly one. Mr. Flynn gets the most work in the first two episodes as the young Einstein looks for a place where his intellectual curiosity will be encouraged, eventually finding his way to the Zurich Polytechnic Institute. Along the way he demonstrates a recklessness in romance that will still be with him decades later (something we know because the opening scene showed us Mr. Rush’s Einstein having enthusiastic sex with a woman not his wife).

At Zurich, Einstein becomes smitten with a bright, determined fellow student, even though he is already in a relationship with someone else. Samantha Colley, a relative newcomer, is simply great as this new love interest, Mileva Maric, who would become Einstein’s first wife; some have argued she also may have contributed to his breakthroughs. Ms. Colley perfectly captures the strength and frustration of a brilliant woman who was well ahead of her time.

In the first two episodes we also see the older Einstein struggling with the gathering anti-Semitism in Germany in the 1920s, so we know the younger, slightly naïve Einstein has a long journey ahead. The series, whose executive producers include Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, makes you want to travel along.