The Current War
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Shannon, Nicholas Hoult, Tom Holland
Directed by: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
Rated: PG-13
The Current War is based on the dramatic true story of Thomas Edison, and George Westinghouse caught up in a race to be the first man to get electricity through the United States. Edison pushes for DC (Direct Current) to be the primary source of electricity in the country, although it proves to be challenging and expensive. Westinghouse pushes for AC (Alternative Current), a more inexpensive and easy, but potentially dangerous method to be the country’s source of electricity. Inventor and futurist Nikola Tesla finds himself in contact with both men during this war of the currents, trying to push towards the future. Who will win?
While The Current War illustrates quite a dramatic subject matter, the actual film went through its fair share of drama making its way to theaters. The Current War was initially slated for a November 2017 release, the perfect slot for an awards season run. However, it was distributed by The Weinstein Company. The moment the Harvey Weinstein scandal broke, the movie was shelved indefinitely. Two years later, the film has found a new distributor in 101 Pictures and been recut by director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon. Talk about a dramatic cinematic story! But does it do justice to its subject matter?
What should be a riveting and compelling biopic about three genius inventors, unfortunately, feels like a scattered mess of ideas jumping around from one storyline to the next. There are far too many plotlines and characters introduced in the 1-hour 45-minute runtime to keep a stable focus. The result is a very bloated movie. The first significant problem is editing. Wow, this movie’s editing is downright dizzying. It cuts in so many awkward places to end up confusing the audience. One minute the focus is Edison. Then the scene cuts to Westinghouse for 30 seconds. Wouldn't it be nice to see what he's doing? PSYCH! Jokes on the audience because it's time to check in on Tesla for 2 minutes. There are montages in The Current War that are almost unexplainable, showing Edison, Westinghouse, and Tesla doing completely different things. What is the purpose of that? At one point, Tesla is inventing something, but we get a closeup of George Westinghouse’s face while it’s happening. The cutaways in this movie are just plain bad.
Another issue with The Current War is the screenplay. Think of any biopic you’ve ever seen. They all have too much ground to cover to tell the whole life story of the subject, right? Well, imagine adding two more people to a biopic! Yeah, it’s a recipe for a mess. Each of these men could easily have their own biopic without question. There are way too many inventions, personal details, and events spanning 15 years crammed into the runtime of The Current War. If the war of the currents was the plot the filmmakers wanted to settle on, this needed to be a much more focused script.
On a positive note, the acting is quite good in the film. Oscar nominees Benedict Cumberbatch and Michael Shannon lead the charge as rivals Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse. Cumberbatch is the genius Edison who is too focused on getting ahead in creating the best inventions to be bothered with any kind of social interaction, even concerning his family. Hate to break it to any Edison fans, but if this movie is to be believed, he was kind of the worst. His snide and obnoxious attitude has me looking at lightbulbs differently now. I used to think, “wow, I’m so grateful that Thomas Edison made this room flow with electricity.” Now I walk in a room and think, “Wow, nice to have light in here, but it sure would’ve been even nicer if Thomas Edison talked to his children occasionally.”
Michael Shannon portrays George Westinghouse, a man accused of stealing Edison’s ideas, but ultimately an inventor striving for progress. Westinghouse wanted to partner with Edison, but he got snubbed! In the past, I didn’t think about George Westinghouse when I saw a lightbulb. Now when I walk into a room and see a light bulb, I think, “Wow, I can’t believe Thomas Edison snubbed George Westinghouse.” This movie has made me have so many complex emotions about lightbulbs. Shannon is excellent here in a much more low key performance as Westinghouse. It’s a change of pace from his recent showy/menacing roles, and it’s nice to see him play a more subdued character for a change. Westinghouse is more concerned about legacy than fame. That’s a critical difference between him and Edison. It could be the difference in the war of the currents.
Nicholas Hoult plays Nikola Tesla, who randomly pops up when the movie decides it’s the right moment. I enjoyed his performance and wanted to see more of the character. The moments we do see are entertaining, most notably between him and Westinghouse. Tesla contributed so much to modern science. A few more scenes would’ve been appreciated!
The score to The Current War by Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans is the electric pulse of the film. The swelling orchestral sounds mimic that of inventors working hard on their next project. It sounds like a stroke of genius in certain moments as if the composers are playing right alongside the inventors as they’ve just found a future world-changing discovery.
I’ve been a bit harsh on this film, but The Current War is certainly not all bad. There are some genuinely exciting themes present concerning ownership, ego, and fame. The men depicted are responsible for some of the greatest inventions in modern science, so there’s no doubt that it is intriguing to watch something depicting their work on the big screen. (The Chicago World’s Fair sequence makes up for the movie’s downfalls.) It helps that there’s a team of such skilled actors keeping the audience invested in the story on screen.
However, it would’ve been nice to see a film that was a lot more cohesive in terms of editing and screenplay. The Current War’s plot is way too overstuffed for its short run time, and the editing is downright confusing. This prestige picture does its best but doesn’t illuminate its subjects.
My Rating: 6/10