TESLA – “An unorthodox bit of historical fodder”

20190520_Tesla_CH_0037.CR2

RATING

DIRECTOR

Michael Almereyda (Hamlet – 2000)

STARRING

  • Ethan Hawke as Nikola Tesla
  • Kyle MacLachlan as Thomas Edison
  • Eve Hewson as Anne Morgan
  • Jim Gaffigan as George Westinghouse
  • Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Szigeti
  • Hannah Gross as Mina Edison
  • Josh Hamilton as Robert Underwood Johnson

SYNOPSIS

Visionary inventor Nikola Tesla fights an uphill battle to bring his revolutionary electrical system to fruition, then faces thornier challenges with his new system for worldwide wireless energy.

REVIEW SUMMARY

Michael Almereyda’s Tesla is an unorthodox bit of historical fodder mixed with some clumsy gimmicks. If you ever wanted to see Edison and Tesla have an ice cream cone fight or see the latter pull out an iPhone, this is the movie for you. Yes, this isn’t your “daddy’s bio pic,” as there are plenty of 4th wall breaks and the such throughout. Almereyda’s imaginative additions are interesting at times however, almost poetic even. But necessary? Not really. Luckily, the performances are done well enough that you can get past most of the odd narrative choices. Heck, I’d even go so far to say that Kyle MacLachlan is “awards worthy” as Edison here. Hawke on the other hand, well, his version of Tesla is a little “space-y,” and never fully realized. That might be because the film as a whole feels rather under cooked, giving lots of little tidbits in place of the larger picture. So, let’s just say this probably won’t be screened in school History classes any time soon.

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