(CNN) "The Current War" is a fascinating story, badly told. The film's release is being billed as its "Director's Cut," but cutting -- and editing -- is a big part of the problem. It's a shame, since the subject matter has so much going for it, kicking off in 1880 -- when Edison (Cumberbatch) registered his first incandescent-bulb patent -- and extending through the Chicago World's Fair in 1893. In between, Edison and Westinghouse waged a brutal battle for supremacy, with the former -- angered by his belief that the industrialist was essentially pirating his creation -- using his celebrity inventor status to smear the latter's tech as dangerous and harmful. Unconcerned about money, Edison still needed a lot of it, securing backing from financier J.P. Morgan ("Succession's" Matthew Macfadyen), while Westinghouse eventually finds his own genius in the visionary Nikolai Tesla (Nicholas Hoult).

Source: CNN October 24, 2019 13:52 UTC