The Current War: Director's Cut
The Weinstein Company | Release Date: October 25, 2019 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
55
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 24 Critic Reviews
Positive:
9
Mixed:
13
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
Los Angeles TimesKatie WalshOct 24, 2019
The Current War: Director’s Cut is an interesting yarn. But one just can’t shake the feeling that it’s just a Wikipedia article jazzed up with a lot of fun camera tricks and some cinematic wizardry, though Westinghouse and Edison would have to be proud of the amazing movie magic. Read full review
60
The New York TimesKen JaworowskiOct 24, 2019
As its energetic early scenes give way to a sluggish second half, you start to sense how much better this good-enough movie might have been. Read full review
60
CineVueLucy PopescuJul 24, 2019
The Current War feels like a history lesson with interesting visuals, rather than a compelling, fully-realised historical drama. Read full review
60
EmpireDan JolinJul 22, 2019
A stylish portrayal of a literal power struggle based on truly interesting historical figures and events. But it tries to take in too much in too little time, when all it needed was to centre on Edison and Westinghouse. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerSep 14, 2017
The Current War employs actors capable of their own eccentric stylizations, and gives them very little leeway to make the material their own. Gomez-Rejon keeps snatching it back with every offbeat composition idea he can muster. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comChristy LemireOct 25, 2019
It may seem ironic that a movie about electrifying the United States should ultimately be so tedious and forgettable, but such is the state of the delayed and troubled drama The Current War: Director’s Cut. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliOct 24, 2019
Any curiosity surrounding the film may have been misplaced – it’s a bit of a bore. Read full review
50
TheWrapDave WhiteOct 23, 2019
It speaks the language of climbers everywhere, but in the process reduces its very real historical innovators to two peevish regional managers in a sniping session, a dry duel set in the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Read full review
50
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanOct 22, 2019
The main problem, despite committed and at times vivid performances by the three main actors — and a mostly perfunctory supporting appearance by Tom Holland as Edison’s loyal assistant Samuel Insull — is the sheer amount of information that the movie tries to convey. Read full review
40
Rolling StoneDavid FearOct 25, 2019
It’s not a bad film, just a generically bland one. Read full review
40
Time OutOlly RichardsOct 24, 2019
It’s all a lot of effort for very little output, sadly. The Current War has lots of flashy lights and whizzy features, but it remains fatally underpowered. Read full review
40
CNNBrian LowryOct 24, 2019
The Current War is a fascinating story, badly told. Read full review
40
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeJul 27, 2019
There’s an edge of panicky desperation to the film-making – the lurching, swooping cameras; the skittish editing; the arcing lens flare. It all seems a little too eager to distract from the fact that top-hatted, frock-coated, mutton-chopped chaps burbling on about the relative advantages of the alternating current versus direct current system does not, in fact, make for electrifying drama. Read full review
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