Tesla

Both here and in the real world, Tesla is more legend than man, and we can only ever really comprehend him through that warped lens. Almereyda understands this fundamental hurdle in the biopic formula, and leans into it with refreshing candor.

It's rebellious within an era of restraint, bathing Tesla in glowing pastel shades in a time of mahogany, leather, and steam.

Bizarre, bewitching film.

Amidst all his meta tricks — the winky callouts to Wikipedia, the deliberately kitsch sets and incongruous soundtrack — Tesla’s own story ultimately fades; a small, bright light lost in the bigger spectacle.

There’s a playfulness and a romanticism to the technique—a way of placing the characters both within and without history—that elevates Tesla from being a snarky art installation to something, presumably like Tesla himself, with a soul.

It inadvertently puts Hawke in the position of having to carry a film that's more of a series of half-formed notions, some intriguing, others ill-advised, and a few verging perilously close to cute.

Almereyda lays tracks to take Tesla in a dozen wild directions. . . . Yet, having ordered the audience onboard, Almereyda doesn’t go anywhere with the gambit.

Art. Just right and strange as the man himself. Eve Hewson sets the pace as narrator and antagonist. Hawke, MacLachlan and Rebecca Dayan as Sarah Bernhardt shine in their roles. Fun, outside the box entertainment.

The world wasn't benevolent to Nikola Tesla during his lifetime, but nowadays he has become quite popular, although in many cases this is due to Elon Musk but hey, if he gets the attention for it then all the better. Remember that even David Bowie himself played him. The most notable element here is of course Ethan Hawke, who provides a sober but intense performance, nevertheless, part of that credit should go to director Michael Almereyda who with Tesla delivers a film that while it doesn't do justice entirely to the name and legacy of the visionary inventor, he doesn't do things wrong either. It's certainly a film with a certain relaxed touch in its tone but it's also visually claustrophobic. This is because it was filmed almost entirely indoors and a lot of those moments by candlelight. Good points for the realism in that regard but visually it feels very formal and doesn't really invite the viewer. But the most important thing about Tesla lies in its narrative, which takes a lot of liberties but this isn't really a problem because this is something this director usually does, the only thing I wonder is why he didn't decide to fully embrace that course. Just watch Cymbeline so you can see what I mean. For the rest, I'd say that it's worth it.

It is okay. There are some interesting moments and a few plot points I've never seen in a Telsa movie before. There are a few moments in the film with an interesting blend of modern-day and time-period artistic choices that were different but unsure if it added or distracted from the story. If you are considering The Current War vs Tesla movie I'd say, The Current War is the better film.

Oh boy...this is a set of loosely related vignettes and it just does not come together. It’s like a history channel documentary with a terrible narrator. The only good parts of this movie are Kyle McLaughlin and Ethan Hawk’s performances. There’s essentially no plot, weird scenes (like the ice cream scene, reminiscent of the big short but not charming like the big short), and I just feel like so much talent was wasted. It also feels like half the movie was shot on green screens in front of static historical images.

This movie is terrible. What happened to Maclachlan and Hawke? Are they that broke? Because they must have been paid huge fees in order to stoop this low. I only want to know the director's name to avoid anything they do. Presumably there was no screenwriter. If someone took the credit for a script, it's clearly a pseudonym. Stay away. Hasn't Nikola Tesla been insulted enough by what passes for history and science? Must the moviegoing public continue to pay for more suffering and indignity? This is worse than bad. It's empty, aimless, visually flat, sonically desultory. It is emotionally triggering but I never expected Tesla to contribute to my descent into anger. Forget this "movie" now.