The Current War

Well acted and reasonably engaging, although there's a significant disconnect between form and content

The electric-lighting company with which I am connected purchased some time ago the patents for a complete alternating system, and my protest against this action can be found upon its minute-book. Up to the present time I have succeeded in inducing them not to offer this system to the public, nor will they ever do so with my consent. My personal desire would be to prohibit entirely the use of alternating currents. They are as unnecessary as they are dangerous.

• Thomas Edison; "The Dangers of Electrical Lighting"; North American Review, 149:396 (November, 1889)

Any plan of distribution involving the meshing of the mains underneath the streets, with all house wires connected directly thereto, is regarded by the majority of competent electrical engineers as in many respects radically defective; so defective, in fact, that, unless the use of alternating currents can be prohibited, it seems destined to be wholly supplanted by the more scientific and in all respects (so far as concerns the users or occupants of buildings) far safer inductive system. Apparently sensible of this, Mr. Edison does not hesitate to say: "My personal desire would be to prohibit entirely the use of alternating currents."

• George Westinghouse; "A Reply to Mr. Edison"; North American Review, 149:397 (December, 1889)

If Edison had a needle to find in a haystack, he would proceed at once with the diligence of the bee to examine straw after straw until he found the object of his search. I was a sorry witness of such doings, knowing that a little theory and calculation would have saved him ninety per cent of his labour.

• Nikola Tesla; The New York Times (October 19, 1931)

Filmed between December 2016 and March 2017, when The Current War debuted in a near-completed form at TIFF in September 2017, it was considered a major contender for the 2018 Academy Awa...

In another case of “when bad movies happen to great actors“, 'The Current War' has all the elements for a great picture including its exceptional cast, but lacks the base appeal for the people who have to buy a ticket. Sadly, this is a rare and unfortunate case of the sum of the film's parts being greater than the whole.

• Jess Fenton

Read Jess' full article... https://www.maketheswitch.com.au/article/review-the-current-war-edison-versus-westinghouse-the-ultimate-grudge-match-with-no-winner

This is a decent, if ponderous, piece of cinema entertainment featuring some A-list talent depicting an almost entirely fictional account of the battle to establish the standard of electrical current we all use today. Tesla is largely ignored (maybe Nicholas Hoult didn't have too many spare filming days in his schedule) and as such the credibility of the whole storyline is undermined. Tom Holland and Matthew Macfadyen deliver well on the supporting front, but Benedict Cumberbatch doesn't quite cut it. History is frequently rewritten for the benefit of Hollywood, but rarely to quite this extent. Worth watching because it is an attractive film, but has little else to recommend it.