In terms of portraying troubled geniuses on display, Benedict Cumberbatch has usually been the go-to man. From the fictional characters (Sherlock Holmes) to true-life figures (Alan Turing, Thomas Edison), he has repeatedly excelled at humanising iconic figures. In director Will Sharpe’s The Electrical Life Of Louis Wain, it’s a trick he pulls off once more, because the titular polymath who grew to become well-known for surreal cat work that shifted the notion of felines without end. However whereas the central efficiency is spectacular, this biopic is not as illuminating because it may and needs to be.
For the primary hour, it doesn’t really feel like issues will end up that means. Olivia Colman’s recurring narration initially frames Wain as a “failed artwork trainer, failed musician, aspiring inventor, enthusiastic poly-hobbyist and naturally part-time illustrator” who’s the only real supplier for his 5 sisters. His most outspoken sibling, Caroline (Andrea Riseborough), is none too happy when he strikes up a romance with governess Emily Richardson (Claire Foy); again then it was scandalous for a ‘gentleman’ to be in a relationship with somebody from the servile class.
The place the primary hour is regular and targeted, the remainder of The Electrical Life… is rushed and sketchy.
This courtship and the eventual marriage of the couple is the place The Electrical Life… is at its finest. There’s something candy about Emily’s acceptance of Louis, awkwardness and all, and their energies complement one another superbly. We have to really feel the highly effective love between them as a result of it units the stage for every thing that follows in additional methods than one — it’s right here that Louis is launched to the cat, Peter, that may spark his creativeness and finally go away a long-lasting legacy on the world – and we do.
However the place the primary hour is regular and targeted, the remainder of The Electrical Life… is rushed and sketchy. Though the movie is steadily lovely to have a look at and hearken to — Arthur Sharpe’s theremin-heavy rating is particularly pleasant — we undergo the following 25 years of Wain’s life at a quick clip, and the cradle-to-the-grave strategy does the storytelling no favours. Extra troublingly, Sharpe and Simon Stephenson’s screenplay appears uncertain of find out how to deal with the psychological sickness that led to Wain’s regular decline; at instances it’s dealt with with pathos, however as a rule it’s whimsical, and the switches between the 2 tones are jarring.
It could be a lot worse if the central efficiency was additionally everywhere, however Cumberbatch caps off the busiest and finest 12 months of his profession with one other spectacular flip that finds new emotional beats as Wain ages by means of the years. Like all good biopics, it leaves you desirous to know extra about its topic, and The Electrical Life…, whereas flawed, is a strong start line.
