The Electrical Life of Louis Wain
Wain pretty fails at everything until meets Emily Richardson (played by Claire Foy) and falls in love, much to the annoyance of his ‘very loud’ sister Caroline, played by Andrea Riseborough. For the first hour, it drags . . . although Olivia Colman’s narration does help to brighten up proceedings.
As the marriage blossoms so does their love of cats . . . and his illustrations. The film is beautiful to look at and to listen to . . . but the next 25 years of Wain’s life feel rushed and clumsy. Almost a tad ‘Wes Anderson’ ish . . .
Mental illness is core to this story . . . but it becomes difficult to watch as the narrative jumps between these two tones.
The central performance is fine, as are supporting actors, Toby Jones is so underused . . . which is such a shame. Like all good biopics, you want to know more about its subject, so I suppose it’s a good place to start. Directed by Will Sharpe – The Electrical Life Of Louis Wain, is an odd, if sometimes awkward & cold film and is certainly not the hilarious comedy as sold to us by the trailer.
The film opened last week and is pretty much available everywhere.
