The Current War: Director's Cut
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Shannon, Katherine Waterston, Tom Holland, Nicholas Hoult, Matthew Macfadyen, Tuppence Middleton
Director: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
The race of who gets to light America is on, with Thomas Edison (Cumberbatch) and George Westinghouse (Shannon) both working hard on sustainable electricity. Edison, who is backed by J.P Morgan, believes direct current is the answer, while Westinghouse is open to exploring alternating current, which allows him to light whole towns instead of a couple of blocks which gives him the leg up in most states. As the race heats up, a third name emerges in the form of Nikola Tesla (Hoult), an immigrant and genius who has his own ideas of how to electrify the world. As allegiances are tested and the back stabbing begins, the men prove they will stop at nothing to win at all costs.
The behind the scenes drama is almost better than the film itself. Originally slated to come out in December of 2017, the film was delayed considerably after not playing well on the festival circuit, receiving mostly negative word of mouth. The answer turned out to be that producer Harvey Weinstein took final cut from the director and the cut that had screened had been edited to suit Weinstein's approval and not the director's. Soon, news of Weinstein's scandal broke and the movie was delayed even more, searching for a new distributor. Once new studio 101 Studios snatched it up, they allowed the director to recut the film, now titled the Director's Cut, to be released and garner new reviews and stand on its own merits. I'm glad the director was able to get his original vision on screen and it didn't turn out that bad.
Director Gomez-Rejon, who began his career directing TV shows like Glee and American Horror Story, burst on the scene with 2015's indie darling Me and Earl and the Dying Girl. He has an incredible cinematic eye and together with cinematographer Chung-hoon Chung (It, The Handmaiden, Stoker) they have put together a unique and stylish biopic.
The MVP of the movie, outside of the two mentioned previously, is Michael Shannon. Those who know me shouldn't be surprised by my saying this, however Shannon turns in an unusually subdued and quiet performance that had me captivated. Westinghouse was interesting in that he wanted to win but didn't want to do it by getting his hands dirty, unlike Edison. Cumberbatch is good, but he seems to only want to play characters who are too smart or prideful for their own good. He's good at it, which is why his performance sinks to the background. Tom Holland hadn't shot to fame as Spider-Man quite yet when this was filmed, so many will be disappointed by his lack of any real involvement until very late in the film. Same for Nicolas Hoult, who is quite good as Tesla but he seems the most shoehorned into the story and isn't given much development.
As well directed and acted as the film is, it does tend to drag in spots. This is a shame, as time passes quickly and events are sped through so the winner can be crowned. I appreciate a well paced movie but this definitely could have been edited a little tighter.
It's unfortunate the delays that were inflicted upon the movie will end up hurting the film. I'm sure there are many who thought this movie already came out and won't even notice its quiet release into theaters this weekend. It's not a complete disaster and for everything that has happened the end product is very competent and has some good performances. Give it a chance.
B-