I initially thought a film about an artist who was famous for drawing cats may suffer from not having an interesting enough story, despite my love of the furry critters. It turns out that the tragic life of Wain at the end of the 19th and start of the 20th centuries did deserve a feature length telling. Unfortunately, this uneven film is not it.
Too much ground is covered in The Electrical Life of Louis Wain so we never really get to understand Wain’s popularity or how he changed the British public’s perspective on cats. Instead we lurch from one tragedy to the next. Benedict Cumberbatch gives a too familiar mannered performance as the schizophrenic artist, though Claire Foy is impressive as his wife, and Toby Jones radiates warmth as his benefactor.
Rating: 5.5 out of 10