Tesla

Director - Michael Almereyda (Deadwood, The Eternal)

Starring - Ethan Hawke (The Purge, Daybreakers), Eve Hewson (The 27 Club, Robin Hood), and Kyle MacLachlan (The Flintstones, Twin Peaks)

Release Date - 2020

Genre - Drama/Comedy

Tagline - "My achievements and conquests will be evaluated in the future"

Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     The IFC Midnight and IFC Films releases lately have been absolutely amazing.  Rent-A-Pal is a contender for my favorite film of the year even though 2021 has just started.  It was a thriller that also made me feel nostalgic taking a deep dive into VHS and the trends that the late 80s and early 90s saw.  They recently released the Russian sci-fi horror film Sputnik which was another amazing release that deserves to be seen.  I received a third IFC release for review but it wasn't a horror title.  Instead, it is a biographic dramedy about Nikola Tesla starring Ethan Hawke.  This was the one I was looking forward to the most but this one was the only real regret.  The movie couldn't figure out what kind of film it wanted to be which resulted in a pretty rough watch. 

     The film is a narrative following the life of underappreciated inventor Nikola Tesla (Hawke).  The film goes through his upbringing, struggling with money, friction between him and Thomas Edison, and love interests.  

     I couldn't wait to spin this one but the movie was nothing like I was expecting.  The quote on the front of the film painted a Drunk History type of biography and, though there was a few moments that was reminiscent of the show, the film was nothing like it.  Instead, the movie struggled to find it's footing.  The acting in this one is extremely underwhelming.  The characters and performances are very dry with the comedy coming in at the wrong time.  I was so fucking excited to see Ethan Hawke take on Tesla but everyone in the film was very underwhelming.  They have no energy and no one can hold the scene.  The cast makes the film extremely heavy and difficult to follow.  The story for this one is a bold attempt at creating a comedic biography on Tesla.  The sad part is the humor completely misses it's mark and the scenes are painfully drawn out.  The humor, when it does hit, is not funny and makes the scenes even more difficult to follow.  When you toss that in with the random narrative, and lackluster acting you are left with a film that is barely unwatchable.  I found myself watching the clock more than the television.  Finally, this is not a bloody or gory flick.  It has a fun soundtrack but aside from that this is a movie most horror fans would want to skip.  Overall, Tesla was a huge disappointment.  The movie was nothing like I was expecting and feels like it was a complicated production from beginning to end.  It doesn't know which way to go which is a very inconsistent experience.  Skip it.