I recently talked on air and asked which of a handful of movies you all thought I should go see and review for you....I assumed you'd all have chosen the new Terminator movie, but seeing as it looks like no one likes the movie (I heard it could end up losing tens of millions of dollars), I decided on The Current War instead.
First "Current" does not mean "no happening"..it means "electrical current".....so no this isn't a present day story...it takes place late in the 19th century..
Benedict Cumberbatch is Thomas Edison, the celebrity inventor on the verge of bringing electricity to Manhattan with his radical new DC technology. On the eve of triumph, his plans are upended by charismatic businessman George Westinghouse (Michael Shannon), who believes he and his partner, the upstart genius Nikolai Tesla (Nicholas Hoult), have a superior idea for how to rapidly electrify America: with AC current. As Edison and Westinghouse grapple for who will power the nation, they spark one of the first and greatest corporate feuds in American history, establishing for future Titans of Industry the need to break all the rules.
The cinematography of the film is grand and captures the period incredibly well....you immediately get the feel that this is a "big" movie. The story, while based in fact, is a bit too focused on the science of electricity and how it is delivered. There is a lot of history to cover...history that is based on inventions and the law and funding...so in other words...this is a "smart" movie. It attempts to educate as well as entertain...and it does too much of one to to a great job at the other.
However there are things you will learn about these inventors that I'll bet you don't know before seeing the movie...and for that I will give this a "thumbs up" as a movie to go see.
The sad truth in the movie is uttered by one of the side characters who says it's not about currant...it's about currency...and that is an all too present reality of those times and the story of this movie.
The Current War is now playing at the Angelika Theater and The Reading Cinemas in Murrieta