THIS HANDSOME,
well-crafted period film tells the story of industrialist George Westinghouse and inventor Thomas Edison’s race to light up America — literally — in the late 19th century.
Inspired by true events, this impressively cast film begins in 1880 as Edison (Benedict Cumberbatch) uses his DC (direct current) system to impress crowds by powering up a block in Manhattan. Soon after, Westinghouse (Michael Shannon) puts up power lines and uses his AC (alternate current) system to power a small town.
Edison maintains his system is safer and his bulbs of higher quality; Westinghouse claims to be able to power up a greater area at a lower cost. They battle it out state by state to win contracts to provide America with electricity and to deliver power for the 1893 World Fair in Chicago.
The competition brings out the worst in both men as they swipe at each other and use smear campaigns to build favour. The electric chair even gets a mention, with Edison claiming he would never make such a device but secretly telling the government how to use Westinghouse’s system to build one.
The story covers personal and professional ups and downs, which adds some personality to what is for the most part a drama about competing business strategies, although it’s not enough to prevent director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon’s film being a touch underwhelming.
It’s an interesting story and the production design and art direction are admirable, stylish and sophisticated.
Cumberbatch (pictured) and Shannon are in fine form, and an equally capable supporting cast lends a hand, including Nicholas Hoult as the futurist Nikola Tesla, Tom Holland as Edison’s personal assistant Samuel Insull and Matthew Macfadyen as investor J. P. Morgan.
However, none of this can make up for a tempo that lacks urgency, and a narrative that feels as if it is just going through the motions.
Near the end of The Current War, Westinghouse asks Edison how it felt to invent a light bulb that could glow for 13 hours when everyone else could only make one to glow for 10 minutes. Edison is fascinating as he explains this momentous breakthrough — and this is the kind of moment I’d prefer to have seen unfold on screen.