Gary Oldman should win an Oscar for his performance as Winston Churchill. The problem with Darkest Hour revolves around the circumstances: British forces are about to be annihilated at Dunkirk. The German blitzkrieg heads for Paris. Churchill’s enemies are plotting to bring him down despite the threats to the UK. And, in May 1940, the U.S. is still in neutral mode while Europe democracies collapse under Hitler’s forces. Darkest Hour, indeed.
Directed by Joe Wright and written by Anthony McCarten, Darkest Hour tries to capture Churchill’s key moments during the early crisis. However, Churchill is a cranky guy. He’s constantly shouting and raving. This was a movie I wish I had a CLOSED CAPTION option because Churchill mumbles a lot. Kristen Scott Thomas, as Churchill’s wife, tries to humanize her husband who is under crushing stress. Lily James plays Churchill’s secretary. The rest of the cast is solid. But, would I want to see Darkest Hour again? The answer is “No.” The times are grim and we were lucky to survive. GRADE: B
George, I try not to miss a Gary Oldman film, so I will be watching DARKEST HOUR.
Prashant, Gary Oldman gives his finest performance in DARKEST HOUR.
It is unfortunate that a it so closely followed Dunkirk. We can only take so much of that same week in May. And Phil can list all the bad decisions Churchill made which takes a lot of the fun out of it.
Patti, Churchill was a flawed leader under enormous pressure. Gary Oldman captures his essence in DARKEST HOUR.
When I saw that Ad I thought you were reviewing a movie called “BEST PICTURE.”
Dan, if I had to vote for BEST PICTURE, I’d go with LADY BIRD.
yes although Phantom Thread was very good too.
Patti, I’m going to see PHANTOM THREAD this weekend.
Even though I am mostly a big Churchill fan, I am already burned out on Churchill/Dunkirk movies. I may not know as much about it as Phil, but I know a lot more than the general public. I like Oldman in general, but I am tired of the impressions, as with John Lithgow in THE QUEEN.
We’ll probably see this – after all, Oldman seems the front runner for the Oscar – but it might not be until it gets to Netflix.
Jeff, like you and Phil Abbott, I’ve read plenty of books about Winston Churchill. He was a cranky, irascible politician in an impossible position as the Nazis started bombing his country. It’s a powerful story.
As an anglophile with lots of friends in London and considering the fact that one of my sisters even married an Englishman I’m so happy that we’ve left those times behind – even though the Brexit brings back some ugly memories.
Churchill imho was esssential in the British stance “We won’t give up!” – having what they call a stiff upper lip.
I have to confess again that after reading a lot about the war in myyouth I’m no longer interested – I’m looking forward!
Of course if the movie gets shown on tv, fine …
A bit OT just to give you an idea of the situation in Europe (I might have written about this before):
The bookstore that I regularly went to in London was Forbidden Planet.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbidden_Planet_(bookstore)
It grew out of a partnershipof three young Jews “Titancomics” which was supposed to have them some fun but turned into a big money making machine.
I met one of them during my visits and he was very friendly with me – but clearly told me that he’d never visit Germany after what we had done to his family …
And other Englishmen spoke similar – though there was no problem between us, they just couldn’t forget what had happened.
Wolf, I find it ironic that Winston Churchill has been played by John Lithgow and Gary Oldman while Anthony Hopkins played Nixon.
Wolf, comedian Robert Klein did a long segment in a comedy routine about how much he loved Germany, had a German girlfriend, but how he looked at older Germans with a little suspicion. (This was when Kurt Waldheim was running for President of Austria and his WWII Wehrmacht ties came out. ) He imagined a confrontation with an older guy:
“Where were you in 1939-45? C’mon, let’s hear it, putzo!”
“Um, I was at the movies.”
“What was playing?”
“ALL ABOUT EVE?”
It’s all in the delivery.
Wolf, with DUNKIRK and DARKEST HOUR competing for Oscars, WWII becomes a new topic for Millennials to learn about.
I want to see this, but can wait for HBO or Netflix.
I saw Gary Oldman do a great impersonation of James Brown in Churchill makeup. It was on Colbert IIRC.
Maggie, I’ll have to search for Gary Oldman doing James Brown! Sounds funny!
I think you’re being too harsh, George, this film deserves at least an A- but probably an A. Barbara liked it a lot, as did the friend she saw it with, and everyone else I’ve talked to – except you – liked it very much as well.
Rick, in my grading system for an “A” grade, I have to want to see the movie again. I don’t need to see DARKEST HOUR ever again. As Patti pointed out, the more you know about Winston Churchill, the more the bleakness of the story of May 1940 hits you.
Just saw this this afternoon. I pretty much agree with you. Oldman was great but I doubt I would want to sit through this a second time.
Brian Cox played Churchill in a movie earlier this year but it got little publici
Steve, you and I share the same opinion of DARKEST HOUR: great performance by Oldman, but a lackluster story.
The ads on TV turned me off of this movie! You see, when Churchill made his famous We shall never surrender speech he spoke those words with quiet conviction. In the ad/movie he shouts them from the rooftop! I’m reminded of how badly Robin Williams said Good Morning Viet Nam! Pfui!
Bob, some of Winston Churchill’s speeches on the radio were “ghosted.”
I know! But the actor should have sounded like the ghost!