This is quite the cast. The story, not so much.
Official Synopsis (via IMDB.com)
The dramatic story of the cutthroat race between electricity titans Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse to determine whose electrical system would power the modern world.
Let me start out by saying this, I don’t hate or dislike this film. While the opening above might give you the impression otherwise, I’m just merely disappointed that the story couldn’t have been sewn up a bit better. You have this beautiful cast that is playing these larger than life characters, but some details appear to be skimmed over. That’s not to say that the movie still doesn’t deliver the message it intended, but it is right to point out that some story items of interest were shallow and maybe could have been left out.
With that said, let’s begin.
The first act of The Current War introduces us to Thomas Edison (Benedict Cumberbatch), who has just brought the world the power of light running on a direct current (DC), which he says is safe. He introduces himself as someone who believes his ideas are revolutionary, safe for human usage, and are more important than anything else, including family and money. He takes that a step further by rudely canceling dinner with George Westinghouse (Michael Shannon) in order to work on his DC idea. Westinghouse, taking this as a slight, soon finds that Edison is working on a light bulb system that would light up New York, and potentially taking millions away from him. With Edison’s slight and his need to go the DC route, Westinghouse refocuses his engineering efforts to push Alternating Current (AC) into businesses.
Also, Tesla shows up briefly in act one to support the AC idea, though is hired by Edison.
The first act of The Current War is PACKED. I mean, it is packed. There are so many details flying at you, that there is no good way to catch and understand them all. The underlying message for the first act goes something like this:
1. Edison is a workaholic.
2. Westinghouse is an honorable man.
3. AC is dangerous.
4. DC is not as dangerous.
5. Tesla has some ideas, but we aren’t sure what.
6. Edison’s wife is sick and dies.
The last two on that list are the least important on that list. No, not from me. I find both those items incredibly important, especially the last one. Human life is ALWAYS important.
Anyway, starting with #5, we aren’t really introduced to Tesla very well. We know he is a genius that is undiscovered in his time. There is a freaking car named after him, for God’s sake. In The Current War, he was a politely wasted character, though the time he spent on screen was not wasted by Nicholas Hoult, who knocked him out of the park. I would love to see a movie dedicated to Tesla played by Nicholas Hoult. That would be a fantastic film if done right. As for this film, he seemed to be an afterthought, which is a crying shame.
Number six on that list is a tragedy on multiple levels. First, the death of anyone is a horrible ordeal. Mary Edison had more to say onscreen than was given to her. She seemed supportive, able to handle Edison’s personal issues like a champ, and helped to keep him grounded. We didn’t get enough screen time to connect those two characters, as they respectfully should have had more screen time to lead up to the moment of her passing. For whatever reason, the filmmakers seemed to just ‘move on’. That’s a shame too because Tuppence Middleton’s performance of Mary Edison was stellar. Giving the first act enough time to connect Mary and Thomas would have done wonders and delivered the emotional impact people were maybe hoping for in the story. She was significant in Edison’s life, so she deserved more time to show that onscreen.
The first act should have been shuffled a bit better. It needed more time to settle, to show both sides of the story, introduce secondary characters correctly, and then move on. As it stands, it’s a shallow act. The most important act in the entire movie is shallow. That’s a shame.
The second act begins with a bit more gusto.
Act two is essentially Edison versus Westinghouse. It’s back and forth between the two geniuses. One (Edison) that will do anything to ruin the competition and see his idea through, while the other (Westinghouse) will do anything to avoid having to stoop to that level. The second act actually works really well when you get some of the first’s details out of the way. Sure, the common viewer will have issues trying to figure out the big difference between AC and DC, having to rely simply on the film’s push that one is more dangerous than the other, but the planning and execution from both parties in the story is fun to watch. It takes up the entire act. At one point, Edison is predicting that death will follow AC’s trail, and then it does with Westinghouse’s assistant, who dies a grisly death. You get some real character depth in the second act, something that should have been present in the first, especially at this moment when Edison uses the previously mentioned death to promote DC.
And, oh, yes, Tesla shows up, quits Edison’s team, and moves into a hotel until act three.
The back and forth between characters in the second act help to ground it. Again, you don’t really get to discuss details or talk specifics when it comes to both genius ideas competing against each other, but the acting and viciousness is something to behold.
With that high note, the third act is not as entertaining as the second. The story at this point shows a broken Westinghouse, who finally stoops to the level of Edison. He stoops so much that he ends up pretty much ruining Edison and his DC ideas. To further drive Edison into the ground, Westinghouse catches wind of Tesla, hires him, and together their ideas make sure to completely bury Edison. It’s a fitting end to Edison’s lighting career, but the film leaves off with Edison talking film…which has some issues of its own. The story certainly doesn’t talk about who created the first film, but we are led to believe it was Edison.
Anyway…
Overall, The Current War is a middle-of-the-road film effort. It seems to rely more on cast than it does storytelling, which is a shame because with the proper story it would have been a timeless tale that people talked about for a while. As it stands, it’s a shallow story that needed more light to see it through.
