I’ve been dying to see filmmaker Michael Almereyda’s “Tesla,” starring Ethan Hawke as the visionary inventor. “Telsa” had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, where it won the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize, but, despite watching 40+ movies there, I missed this one.
The film, much like last year’s misbegotten “The Current War” tackles the Tesla/Edison rivalry, which was all about the race for modern electricity. Kyle MacLachlan plays Thomas Edison, the genius narcissist who went up against the more lonesome and isolated, but equally brilliant, Tesla (Hawke).
Almereyda also directed Hawke in the above-average 2000 version of “Hamlet.” He’s been on a bit of a hot streak lately having delivered festival favorites “Majorie Prime,” and “Experimenter.“ IFC Films is planning to open Almereyda’s “Telsa” in theaters (good luck with that), and VOD on August 21.
A shout out to Caitlin Hughes who is about to get me into a viewing of this film and the SXSW hit “She Dies Tomorrow.”