Since its production, The Current War has hit several obstacles on its way to wide release. Due to its connections to The Weinstein Company, it was shelved after Harvey Weinstein’s sexual harassment allegations came to light. After the distribution rights were twice resold, two years later, the movie is finally here. The Current War is supposed to be about the “War of Currents” of the late 1800s, but it comes off more like a documentary about Edison and Westinghouse where the “current war” takes a backseat.
There are some great things about this movie, like its ensemble cast. Benedict Cumberbatch plays his classic “arrogant genius” role as Thomas Edison, and Michael Shannon does a great job of portraying George Westinghouse. The supporting cast, consisting of Tom Holland, Nicholas Hoult, and Matthew Macfadyen, set up an amazing stage for the main cast to showcase their amazing performances. The excellent costume and set designs take you right back to 19th century America. Dustin O’Hallora and Hauschka do an excellent job in creating the soundtrack; it readily captures the theme of the movie. The cinematography is fantastic too, as a lot of the scenes are visually appealing. However, there is one fatal flaw in this film that makes it fall apart: bad writing.
The Current War is too abstracted for a general audience. It assumes that the audience is already aware of certain concepts, such as the differences between direct and alternating current. It would have been better if they had took the time during the film to explain these scientific concepts to the audience. Additionally, Tesla’s two Phase solution was realistically one of the most important turning points for the war, but it is hardly mentioned in the movie. Another flaw is that the narrative only showcases the events from the point of the experts (Edison, Westinghouse, or their employees). We never get to see how the people of America felt at the time. A common man’s perspective would have been refreshing and would have provided the necessary contrast in the movie.
Secondly, the pacing was off. The first 30 minutes of the movie covers over five years of the war, but the rest of the movie only focuses on the following three years. The transitions between the scenes and beats seem abrupt. A particularly important scene involving Westinghouse is split throughout the movie and is shown in parts. By the time we can get to its ending, it falls apart and loses its meaning. Throughout the film, the characters come across various life-altering moments. However, it feels like these moments have no effect on them. The dialogue is uninteresting and the interactions between the characters feel unnatural.
Even though Nikola Tesla was an integral part of the War of Currents, he was a missed opportunity in The Current War. Telsa’s ability to demonstrate his ideas using simple experiments was the key reason for his success. But, The Current War fails to showcase this quality of Tesla. That said, it did a great object in highlighting Tesla’s Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and germophobia. It’s referenced to in multiple scenes throughout the film.
This is one of the movies where the individual parts, such as the acting, cinematography, and sound, are impressive. However, the flawed writing fails to bring these aspects together for a good story. Considering the success of National Geographic’s American Genius episode on the same topic, the big screen adaption of the War of Currents failed in providing an engaging story and experience despite having a ton of potential.
2.7/5 STARS