The Current War’s cast illuminates a tricky tale of dueling inventors
The Current War has had a long road to hit the big screen, and this “director’s cut” tells a sumptuous tale bathed in a formulaic narrative.
The lives of great men who did great deeds to create the United States are routinely captured on celluloid going as far back as the creation of cinema itself. The world of masculinity and entertainment is so ingrained that, at a certain point while watching Alfonso Gomez-Rejon’s director’s cut of The Current War, it takes on a meta-quality. The audience is watching a movie about the creation of the man who gave us the ability to watch movies. It’s one of the more thought-provoking moments in a film that can feel rather by the numbers despite its stellar cast.
Thomas Edison (Benedict Cumberbatch) is a brilliant inventor with a massive ego. He is determined to bring incandescent light to America, but he finds himself in a war with titan George Westinghouse (Michael Shannon). Dragged into the fight is Nikolai Tesla (Nicholas Hoult) who believes both men have separate ideas that could solve everything.
Unless you were able to see the original cut of the film when it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2017, it’s unclear how this “director’s cut” differs. Set to be released in November of 2017, the film was pulled in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal; the Weinstein Company was set to distribute the film as its awards pony that year. So, The Current War has sat on a shelf since that time — and there’s probably no more perfect time to release it considering stars Tom Holland and Benedict Cumberbatch have accrued so many fans.
There are three key narratives that vie for the film’s runtime: Edison’s fight with Westinghouse, Westinghouse’s attempts to combat Edison’s smear campaign, and Tesla’s fight for acknowledgment. The first two take up the bulk of the hour-and-40-minute runtime, and it’s understandable why. For screenwriter Michael Mitnick, Edison was a man of ego and Westinghouse was a man of principle.
Cumberbatch plays Edison as an egomaniac, so hellbent on having his name on everything that he decides to tell people Westinghouse’s alternating current for electricity is deadly. So many people have seemingly profited off Edison’s inventions that the mere mention of losing a city to Westinghouse drives him crazy. It’s a performance from the British actor we’ve seen him give countless times, filled with screaming and metaphorical hair-pulling.
There are moments that feel they were recycled from Cumberbatch’s Imitation Game, but he’s still compelling. He’s complemented by Tom Holland as Edison’s right hand, Samuel Insull. Holland is pleasing as the person who makes Edison human, though he is often relegated to the background much like Mary.
What’s more interesting is Edison’s inability to navigate his family life. Tuppence Middleton has only a few moments as Mary Edison, though it feels like more scenes might exist. Middleton is the quiet, compliant wife who also holds Edison’s heart and humanity.
Hearing the stories that Edison didn’t spend the night with her when they were married genuinely hurts the woman. She becomes the keeper of his reputation as well as the one reminding him to actually enjoy his financial security by spending time with his kids. It’s unfortunate she holds so little screentime as her chemistry with Cumberbatch is enough that he comes off as less cold and distant. But it’s obvious The Current War is uninterested in romantic relationships.
Maybe because Cumberbatch is such a flat performer or because Edison is a name so often trotted out, the bulk of The Current War‘s entertainment value is found in Michael Shannon’s Westinghouse. Where Cumberbatch’s Edison is about who’s name is on the item, Westinghouse is focused on whether it’s a good product. The script obviously wants to examine the nature of legacy, but where Edison is about ownership, his rival knows the proof is in the pudding.
Shannon is quiet and contemplative, driven though just as motivated by his wife (a waste of a good Katherine Waterston). It’s obviously everything Edison lacks Westinghouse has, though Westinghouse lacks the pedigree and convivial nature of Edison.
This leaves Nicolas Hoult’s Tesla as an afterthought. He’s introduced as a young upstart who believes Edison is a brilliant inventor, but the “wizard of Menlo Park” wants Tesla to work under him, not alongside him. Hoult lacks definition in the role, probably because the character himself is ill defined. Audiences who know of Tesla’s involvement in the promotion of incandescent light will understand his significance, but it’s muted in the movie. His scenes feel inserted into the narrative and could just as easily be lifted out with little loss to the main crux of the story. It’s almost baffling that he gets the last word because he seems so pointless.
But The Current War is an actors showcase and everything is in service to the performances. The production design is utterly beautiful. Because the movie is about the need for light, a majority of the film takes place with gaslight and shadow. It’s amazing that the actors were able to act with such low lights, let alone that Edison was able to invent. This is a standard period film so costumes are understandably gorgeous, but more than anything The Current War makes you appreciate the minutiae of filmmaking and how important light is.
The Current War won’t go down in history as anything special. Cumberbatch, Shannon, Hoult, and Holland have done far superior work in other movies. It is certainly nice to see them all act opposite each other in a movie that feels special to its filmmaker and screenwriter. If anything, The Current War is no longer in the dark.
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