TIFF Review: EDISON AND LEO

Here’s the story, such as it is.  George T Edison is an unscrupulous - and rather randy - inventor, one dedicated absolutely to his work and more than willing to steal anything that will help him achieve his ends.  Or, for that matter, anything that he just thinks will looks nice in one of his many display cases jammed with rare artifacts.  He dotes on his son Leo, ignores his son Farraday, and generally tries to nail anything that moves despite the continuous presence of his beautiful wife.  When a bizarre string of events leaves his wife lipless and bleeding on the floor of his lab, Edison takes her to a far away native tribe for healing, where an even more bizarre string of events leaves her dead, Leo permanently charged up with electricity and a very angry band of natives swearing to take bloody revenge on the entire Edison clan.

You know, as I write this I keep thinking to myself that, damn!  I should really like this movie.  It should be surreal, funny, vulgar stuff - all of which I rather enjoy - but it just never gets itself together.  The script seems as though it’s a draft or two away from being truly complete, either that or writer George Toles just learned a hard lesson in the importance of compatibility with his director and also the plain and simple fact that Neil Burns aint no Guy Maddin. The pacing is strange, the tonal shifts awkward, the animation a touch too far on the crude side.  The presence of Powers Booth as the voice of Edison suggested that the voice cast would, at least, be strong but no such luck there, either, as the whole crew seem rushed and lifeless.

The easy response to this film is to chalk up all of it’s problems to the simple fact that it is a Canadian production, a tack I’m reluctant to use as a general rule but all of the Can-Con hallmarks seem to be in place here.  Edison and Leo has all the hallmarks of being a good idea that was rushed through production without a clear enough plan or polished enough script, problems made more severe by a good case of underfunding.  It’s an old, old story up here and while the exceptional manage to find ways of working around our very flawed system it has been known to swallow entire projects whole, Edison and Leo certainly looking like one such case.  So much potential so poorly realized ...