It’s Edison’s (Cumberbatch) DC system vs Westinghouse (Shannon) and his AC system. The movie plays out with a political type of intrigue and portrays Edison as a man who is self absorbed and would compromise his own integrity by collaborating with others to portray the AC system as dangerous and unfit that would put the public at risk and end many lives . He went as far as to collaborate with others to promote Westinghouse’s own system as a means to power the new electric chair.
His end goal was to show that his rivals system was the best way to end lives and tried to prove that by publicly executing animals using the rival AC system. Edison used fear in an attempt to gain a market advantage over Westinghouse. With all of that said, his interactions with his family were the opposite. A good father , a loving husband to Mary Edison played wonderfully by Tuppence Middleton. One of the themes in the movie that also plays out on the Westinghouse side, is the importance of these strong, supporting wives to these truly remarkable and successful men.
Cumberbatch, who I have yet to see perform badly, was a great fit for the role and it will be interesting to see where he lands among the best acting categories when awards season rolls around.
I want to touch on Michael Shannon as George Westinghouse. He was great. He portrayed a man of high integrity, a good husband and a good friend. However he is pushed by Edison’s lack of integrity and that puts him in an internal conflict and this is where Shannon shines in the movie. What is a man to do when he’s constantly pushed to the brink? Constantly lied about and taunted in the media? Not many of us are cut from the same cloth as Ghandi.
He’s helped by a flashback sequence that plays out slowly through the duration of the movie. As I said earlier about Cumberbatch, it will be interesting to see where Shannon stands during the awards season. His scenes with his wife played by Katherine Waterston were all fantastic and showed how important she was in his decision making process.
Now let me get my fan boy on! Tom Holland plays Samuel Insull, who at this point in his career was Thomas Edison’s personal secretary and confidant. His screen time is limited but important and I’m excited to say this kid has acting chops! For those of us waiting in anticipation for the new Spider-Man I can say that I believe they made a great choice.
