ReelBob: ‘Tesla’ ★★
By Bob Bloom
Nikola Tesla has been a peripheral character in a few films — most notably Christopher Nolan’s 2006 feature “The Prestige” and 2017’s “The Current War.”
The inventor-engineer takes center stage in writer-director Michael Almereyda’s biopic “Tesla,” which is an odd presentation that looks at Tesla’s life through a 21st-century prism, yet fails to burrow deep enough into the genius’ complicated and visionary mind.
Almereyda makes some head-scratching choices. For example, the movie is narrated by Tesla’s friend and associate, Anne Morgan (Eve Hewson), from a contemporary vantage point in which she tells us how many links about Tesla, his rival, Thomas Edison and even her father, J.P. Morgan, can be found on Google.
This conceit is Almereyda way of explaining the debt our contemporary society owes to Tesla.
Some of Almereyda’s ideas seem to be distractions or diversions. Tesla’s interactions with the famed 19th-century stage star Sarah Bernhardt (Rebecca Dayan) really don’t add much to the story, except to intimate that, because of their genius in their fields, they are kindred souls.
Almereyda paints a Tesla who is altruistic. Unlike Edison (Kyle MacLachlan), Tesla wants his inventions used to better mankind, not to put money in his pocket.
Ethan Hawke portrays Tesla, as an individual uncomfortable around other people. Even when he is with other people, Hawke makes Tesla seem as if he is alone, deep in thought about a new project.
Hawke’s intense Tesla rarely speaks and, when he does, it is almost a whisper. Tesla lacks the smooth social graces needed by a man who must cultivate wealthy patrons to continue his work.
With his mind always racing, Tesla seems to be intellectually years beyond those around him.
“Tesla,” at 102 minutes, feels longer. It is slowly paced — at times plodding and boring. It plays like an episode of the 1960s “Biography” television series.
Despite Hawke’s fine work, Almereyda’s script does not give the actor much to work with. The movie appears to only scratch the surface of Tesla’s life and mind. The director provides many static shots of Tesla sitting in a chair, making notes and drawing up inventions, but he fails to delve deeper.
I have written this before: One of the most difficult aspects of a biopic is to portray genius. Movement is a necessity in cinema. But you really can’t show someone’s mind in action.
On that score, “Tesla” misses its mark.
Where “Tesla” does succeed is in showing how the industrial age and progress went hand-in-hand. Such inventors and industrialists as Edison, George Westinghouse — portrayed by Jim Gaffigan — and bankers and investors, such as J.P. Morgan, saw such advances as electric lights and the telephone as devices to achieve riches and to better people’s lives.
The crucial flaw with “Tesla” is that it, ironically, lacks spark. Almereyda’s depiction of Tesla may be accurate, but cinematically it filters the spotlight that this nearly forgotten forward-thinker deserves.
I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. I review movies, Blu-rays and DVDs for ReelBob (ReelBob.com), The Film Yap and other print and online publications. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com. You also can follow me on Twitter @ReelBobBloom and on Facebook. My movie reviews also can be found at Rotten Tomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com.
TESLA
2 stars out of 4
(PG-13), thematic material, nude images