Review of Darkest Hour (2017) by Stuart M — 09 Dec 2018

A rather tedious and predictable historical drama. Every key incident is telegraphed ages in advance and consequently seems to take forever getting there. The climaxes, when they come, are overblown and almost laughable.

The King's Speech (a far superior film) didn't place so much importance on a single oration, and that was the title of the movie! It doesn't take an expert on the period to note that many of the incidents are absurd and made up.

The main plotline that Halifax and Chamberlain were aiming to take down Churchill is imaginary. Delusional even. They pushed strongly for peace feelers during the retreat across Europe but that was a matter of desperation, not cold-blooded plotting.

A change of government while engaged with the enemy would have been suicide. A lot of actors have played Churchill but I found Oldman to be near the bottom of the list, despite being one of my favorite actors.

The physical transformation is impressive, but perhaps because it was so different from his genuine appearance Oldman seemed to play up the elements that a more appropriate actor could have us take for granted.

Churchill here seems more an overwhelmed child than a statesman, with little of his gruff bravado or stubborn will. I'd class the best Churchills as Finney, Hardy, Lithgow, Gleeson, Oldman, Spall.

The supporting cast fared better. I really liked Chamberlain and Stannis excelled himself as Halifax. Ben Mendelson took some well-deserved time off from playing stock villains to portray King George VI (a largely thankless role given how poorly he's used).

And David Straitham gave a pitch perfect FDR impression over the phone that makes me yearn for him to get his own movie. But the movie has its head too far up its proverbial posterior to do anything with that.