... with a musk reminiscent of burning flesh, transformed into a ridiculously low budget AmDram production performed by clowns and jesters, mercilessly mocking one of the founding fathers of modern technology.

Fuses blown, breakers tripped, a complete short circuit fiasco.

Nikola Tesla (Ethan Hawke) works for Thomas Edison (Kyle MacLachlan). He quits accusing Edison of owing him $50k. J.P. Morgan's daughter Anne Morgan (Eve Hewson) is the movie's narrator who is taken with him and his work. He does a business deal with George Westinghouse (Jim Gaffigan) and foolishly rips up their contract for Westinghouse's sake. He falls for actress Sarah Bernhardt (Rebecca Dayan) who is equally fascinated with him.

This is an arthouse bio of legendary inventor Nikola Tesla. Hawke is trying to do quiet intensity. He definitely has the quiet and he gets the intensity at times when he's allowed. This is most notable for its style of fake situations, narration from a side character, and an oddly strip down tone. The combination is interesting but somehow lifeless. Every aspect of this places distance between Tesla and the audience. Then there is the karaoke ending. It's another artistic choice which places a distance between this Tesla from reality and from the audience. It's fascinating but distancing.

During His Lifetime Nikola Tesla was a Misunderstood Genius of a Man.

He Literally "Lit-Up the World" by Lighting the Entire World's Fair when Artificial Light was Virtually Non-Existent,

Tesla had Personality Disorders of the First Magnitude that Separates Him from "Normal" Interactions Among His Peers and the Population in General.

He had to Struggle Attempting to be Heard and Understood Concerning His Brilliant Ideas and Inventions.

To Say that He was "Ahead of His Time" is an Obvious Understatement.

His Pacifictic, Socialist, and Philanthropic Ideas were Not Welcome among the Ultra-Capitalist of His Era.

The Movie Captures All of This and Renders it as Surreal Cinema.

Incorporating Non-Sequitur and Ill-Fitting Juxtapositions.

It Gives the Movie an Off-Beat Feeling about Tesla who Certainly was Off-beat.

It's an Approach that some Find Disrespectful or at Least Inappropriate when Dealing with the Man and the Subject at Hand.

But it is Just One Approach.

Even a Meticulously Researched and a Big-Budget 2 Hour Movie would or could do Tesla and His Place in History Justice.

The Film is a Touch-Tone, a Stepping Stone on One's Way to Appreciating and Understanding Nikola Tesla.

It's a Movie that You can Have Fun With.

It can also Stimulate and Foster Inquisitive Thinking by way of the Art-House.