A freewheeling take on visionary inventor Nikola Tesla, his interactions with Thomas Edison and J.P. Morgan’s daughter Anne, and his breakthroughs in transmitting electrical power and light.
“Tesla” is an unusual biopic that acts to rebel against its own genre by rejecting traditional styles of biography narration. The film breaks the fourth wall often and with the oddest timings, interrupting the flow of the plot and detaching any attention given by the audience. Unlike other inventors, Nikola Tesla is remembered more for his mystery than for the actual knowledge of his contributions, both of which fail to deliver as the film drags further into its fantasy.
“Tesla” focuses on the conflict between Tesla and Thomas Edison, both inventors with a deep interest in the electrification of society but both struggling to negotiate the business models interested in using their currents. Their interactions, however, are overdramatized and cheapened by the film’s attempt to illuminate Nikola Tesla’s brilliance and done at the expense of a well-written script with a put together plotline.
Furthermore, the film uses painted backdrops and still shots coupled with a rusty CGI version of lightning, light, and electricity, bringing about a questionable budget for its production with such an embellished cast. Ethan Hawke plays Tesla, which proves to be an adept choice as Hawke is very good at playing an aloof intellect lacking the capacity to understand social cues. However, even he is not enough to save a script that seems to read right off a Wikipedia page but without the luxury of fact-checking. Hawke is complimented with his partnership with Kyle MacLachlan, who plays Thomas Edison, but the chemistry between the actors falls short of expectations due to the dry script.
Perhaps the strangest aspect of this film is its insistence as using Eve Hewson as both Anne, Tesla’s platonic love interest, and the modern-day narrator who will urge the audience to ‘google’ Nikola Tesla and his fame. Eve Hewson as Anne is perhaps the only clever decision to be made for the film as she engages with Tesla with an edge of sardonic humor and full of platonic love, showcasing a degree of companionship that elicits jealousy in its viewers.
While Tesla is infamous for his socially detached behavior to compliment his intellect, his lack of connection with his peers strongly reflects the lack of connection between the film and the audience. “Tesla,” as a film, does well in making radical decisions to create an atypical biopic, but its execution could use more of a spark.
In Select Theaters and Video-On-Demand Friday, August 21st
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