Benedict Cumberbatch in “The Electrical Life of Louis Wain” (2021). IMDb photo

Let me be honest. I don’t like cats. Cats make me break out; cats make me sneeze. Cats, I should add, don’t like me either.

MOVIE INFO

“THE ELECTRICAL LIFE OF LOUIS WAIN”

English artist Louis Wain rises to prominence at the end of the 19th century for his surreal cat paintings.

Biography, drama, history
Rating: PG-13 for some thematic material and strong language.
Length: 111 minutes
Director: Will Sharpe
Writers: Simon Stephenson (screenplay by), Will Sharpe (screenplay by)
Stars: Taika Waititi, Aimee Lou Wood, Benedict Cumberbatch

So why did I sit there watching “The Electrical Life of Louis Wain,” whose whole life was covered, like moss and toadstools, with cats, real, artsy, and psychedelic.

I only chose to review this film because of Mr. Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch, one of the top five actors in the English speaking world, in my opinion. Cumberbatch doesn’t make bad movies, only occasionally weird ones like this.

But if you like Cumberbatch and cats, (really love cats,) this is your top movie of the season.

Louis Wain, I learned here, came into this world in Britain somewhere in the 1800’s, and for decades, amused and befuddled cat owners with pictures of cats, cartoons of cats, paintings, books and wallpaper and pillow coverings of cats.

Wain, an eccentric artist who could sketch furiously, with both hands at the same time, made cats and himself famous.

It’s fun to say that Wain was the “Birdman of Alcatraz” of cats.

We spend a lot of time in the first 15 minutes watching the wonderful Benedict Cumberbatch (“The Courier,” “The Imitation Game”) ply his art on busses, trains, city benches and various studios.

Wain fox trotted about the city of London with a briefcase full of pens and papers attached to his hip, like a tall, curious marionette broken free from his annoying wires.

With almost comic spastic movements reminiscent of the 1950’s French comic Jacques Tati Monsieur Hulot, Louis went about sketching people and objects from his teens to adult years, but it was cats that obsessed him and eventually made him famous.

He gave his admirers paintings of cats swinging golf clubs, playing poker and smoking cigars.

There isn’t a lot I can tell you about the film that will draw you closer, except to tell you “The Crown’s” Olivia Colman’s narration warms the time like a nice fire, and that the fine Toby Jones (“The Hunger Games”) is in it, and the wonderful Claire Foy (“The Crown”) plays his wife.

Remember, this is a true story, with all the darkness that comes with truth.

Louis’ mental illness, that bore dark fruit late in his life, may have been the foundation for his obsession with the feline world, but when he began seeing humans with cat’s heads, we smell decay.

There is a flock of smaller unknowns, at least to us, of British actors here, along with the herds of cats, including Louis’ own beloved pet.

“Electrical” will never ever be my favorite film, despite Cumberbatch’s role. Not even the cutest of cats, or Foy can win me over.

I would have avoided it, but I never miss one of Cumberbatch’s movies.

Arthur Sharpe’s score is delightful and evocative, and Erik Wilson’s camera catches the light, the air of 1800 London, and all the cats.

“The Electrical Life of Louis Wain” opens exclusively at Railroad Square Cinema in Waterville on Friday, Oct 22.

J.P. Devine of Waterville is a former stage and screen actor.