8/22/20 - Tesla (2020) - 4+/10

An intriguing mix of recreation, dramatization, bespoken retelling, fantasy, diegetic vacillation that has all the possibility of Tesla’s genius but overextends itself into a scatterbrained bore. I wanted to like it, but I couldn’t get onboard with its fanciful dallies between dry history and delusional panache, all while Hawke expresses nothing evocative of the enigmatic science whiz.

I am all for experimentation, but I don’t think this one served much of a narrative purpose or impressed. The backgrounds were odd, like large sets from a play, as JP Morgan’s daughter spelled history out for us, often overly so. It also seemed to prize its extraordinary communion with the audience, as it doesn’t only break the 4th wall, it breaks the 5th or 6th walls, those being time and reality. Some probably love it, but the impromptu Tears for Fears karaoke performance put it over the top for me, especially with Hawke’s (who I love) subdued and dispassionate evocation.

Overall, it was surprisingly bland. Like a psychedelic version of a documentary shown in school, with this mysterious version of Tesla grumbling along.