Danielle Solzman
Tesla may not mark the first time that Nikola Tesla’s story has been brought to the screen but it is certainly the most innovative version.
There are so many things that a Tesla film could focus on. However, this one is presented in the most comical fashion. We get Tesla singing into a microphone! There’s no denying that Ethan Hawke can sing but it was certainly a surprise. But on a serious note, the film chooses to rein in on a few areas while telling the story. The first is the rival with fellow inventor Thomas Edison (Kyle MacLachlan). The second is with J.P. Morgan’s daughter, Anne Morgan, who also serves as narrator. Finally, there is the development of Alternating Current (AC) as a source of electricity.
I’m not going to dive into the chronology of the inventor’s life. That’s what books and Wikipedia are for. When we first meet him, he’s working for Thomas Edison’s Machine Works. The two don’t see eye to eye on anything and so Tesla is soon off to work for George Westinghouse (Jim Gaffigan). Eventually, Tesla finds funding from J.P. Morgan (Donnie Keshawarz). Funny enough, the film break’s the fourth wall when Anne Morgan introduces the main players. She goes through how many Google results each one has. It’s rather bold and innovative for this sort of film. In some ways, it also becomes a docu-drama in that regard. But mostly, it’s nothing but drama.
Michael Almereyda’s direction of Tesla serves in stark contrast to Marjorie Prime three years ago. The relationship between Tesla and Edison is presented in a comical manner. Still, the fact that Google search results are included is what takes the comedy to an entirely different level! That’s not to say that this is a bad thing because it isn’t. It is, however, the most surprising part of the film outside of Ethan Hawke picking up the microphone as the inventor to sing “Everybody Wants To Rule the World.”
Drunk History serves as an influence for this film. Let me repeat this in case you didn’t understand it the first time: Drunk History serves as an influence! It was perhaps the most surprising piece of information to come from the Q&A following the second screening. Don’t worry–Jim Gaffigan hit all the marks but I wouldn’t expect any different from the comedian-turned-dramatic-actor. Gaffigan’s screentime is minimal as Tesla’s boss but it’s another showcase for his dramatic chops.
The fact that Tesla takes inspiration in its script from Drunk History says everything we need to know about this film. This cannot be said enough!
DIRECTOR/SCREENWRITER: Michael Almereyda
CAST: Ethan Hawke, Kyle MacLachlan, Jim Gaffigan, Eve Hewson, Donnie Keshawarz, Josh Hamilto, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Rebecca Dayan
