The Current War review: Benedict Cumberbatch and Michael Shannon play warring inventors in this story of the invention of mass-produced electricity.
The Current War review by Paul Heath.
After delighting audiences with the superb Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon tackles The Current War, a film based on true events, notably the race to bring electricity to the masses.
Benedict Cumberbatch is pioneer and inventor Thomas Edison, while Michael Shannon, in his second role here at TIFF following Guillermo del Toro’s celebrated The Shape Of Water, plays his professional nemesis George Westinghouse.
We follow the pair on two very different journeys in conducting electricity and beaming it into homes across the United States. In the mix as well are Tom Holland as Edison’s right-hand man and Nicholas Hoult as Serbian-American inventor Nikola Tesla. There’s also Katherine Waterston as Westinghouse’s other-half Marguerite Erskine, and Tuppence Middleton as Edison’s wife Mary Stilwell Edison. The film charts the ‘thrilling’ journey of each individual and their respective journeys in bringing electricity to the masses – not just for the wealthy elite – no matter what the cost.
A film that had the honour of having a screenplay listed on the Black List – the best of the best unused Hollywood scripts – The Current War could be the dullest film of the year.
While I respect the work of the likes of Cumberbatch and Shannon in pretty much everything that they do, and they’re actually both fantastic here, the subject matter really does almost immediately manage to switch the viewer off. The two only meet on screen once during the running time, so don’t bank on the coming together of two of Hollywood’s best working actors to lift your interest either. Everyone else does a fine job, it’s just that I really wasn’t interested in anything that they had to say.
Related: TIFF 2017: The Shape Of Water review
It and The Handmaiden cinematographer Chung hung-hoon does his best to jazz things up with his swirling, inventive imagery, but his long takes and fish-eye lenses more of a distraction rather than a huge positive. Then there’s the CGI – which is, frankly not good. At times, it is completely disrupting, particularly during the climactic scenes at the world’s fair and early on with a sweeping shot of a train containing Edison and his family. Unforgivable.
It looks like a huge awards push is on the cards for the film, and while the acting prowess and delivery is the best thing about it, I’m sure that it’s not going to bother too many juries later in the year, which is a real shame considering the talent involved both in front of and behind the camera.
As it stands, The Current War is a total snooze-fest from start to finish, a 107-minute movie about people talking about power and electricity, and absolutely as dull as it sounds.
The Current War review by Paul Heath at the Toronto International Film Festival, 2017.
The Current War is awaiting a UK release.
