Genius is a hilarious romp set in the Esquavil-groovy sixties, starring the most selfish, irresponsible charmer ever to moon an Oscar audience: Leander Starr, a Hollywood director in the tradition of Orson Welles, whose artistic aspirations soar as high as his checks bounce.

​

Fleeing creditors, the IRS, and miscellaneous ex-wives, Starr escapes to Mexico with his faithful-to-a-fault valet, only to discover his hacienda is run by the now-blowsy bombshell from his first film, and inhabited by an ex-collaborator he cheated --  Patrick Dennis, legendary author of Auntie Mame, who proceeds to skewer Starr and his hangers on with wit as dry as a gin martini. When sad-sack IRS Agent Guber shows up with handcuffs, Starr hatches a plan to pay off all his debts in one fell swoop: join forces with an unscrupulous exiled Hollywood producer and make a movie starring everyone from the wreckage of his past.

​

But it is Starr’s estranged daughter, Emily, a sheltered debutant who brings Starr’s genius plan to its full fruition—causing him to behave, for once, unselfishly.