Darkest Hour

Starring: Gary Oldman, Kristen Scott Thomas, Lily James, Ben Mendelsohn, Ronald Pickup, Stephen Dillane, Nicholas Jones, Samuel West, David Schofield, David Strathairn (voice)
Directed by: Joe Wright
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Drama
2017

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Winston Churchill (Gary Oldman) debates whether to negotiate with Adolf Hitler or risk the destruction of England.

Review:

Tim: I'm a big Winston Churchill fan, so I was eagerly anticipating the Academy Award winning Darkest Hour. It's certainly massively better than the disappointing Churchill earlier in 2017. And, I have to admit, this is a great movie. It features an incredible performance by Gary Oldman and tells a powerful, emotional story. I enjoyed the film very much. And yet, despite the film's obvious greatness, it still didn't feel like the definitive Churchill movie. It's a great movie, and yet I still wanted more.

The film's two Academy Awards center around its star. The first is the long-awaited Academy Award for Best Actor for Gary Oldman. Oldman has been one of the most reliably great actors for decades and it felt like a crime that he had never won the top award. I was so thrilled he finally won it here. And to be fair, he does deserve it. He's nearly unrecognizable here as Churchill, and yet his performance makes it through the makeup. It's a strong, striking, memorable performance. It's the kind of role that great actors like Oldman will undoubtedly elevate. The second Academy Award the film won was for Best Makeup and Hairstyling, obviously transforming Oldman into Churchill. Like I said, it's sometimes hard to believe we're actually watching Oldman. The makeup was impressive. And yet, I need to be honest here- as much as I liked Oldman and as much as I was impressed with the makeup, it didn't quite do it for me. Oldman doesn't so much look like Winston Churchill as like a man wearing makeup to look like Winston Churchill. In some ways, it effects his performance- there's not much authentic about how he looks in this movie. It was slightly offputting for me. Now, Oldman's performance is good enough that enough of his ability makes it through the makeup, but not all of it does. It was an odd experience watching this film. I really liked Oldman, but I couldn't quite love what I was seeing. That is part of the reason why I didn't love this movie more (although I liked it so very much). I admit, it's a bit of an odd criticism, but it's how I felt watching this movie.

The story is a good one. It really shows what it was like in England during World War II. You understood the unbelievably difficult choice Churchill faced. It helps to know it all turns out okay in the end, and that only slightly diminishes the effectiveness of the film. It was interesting to see Churchill interact with his wife, his secretary, and the other politicians in England. As much as this is a film about one man, it's also very much about his interactions with those around him. Director Joe Wright does a good job of weaving Churchill's story with the others around him during this time (with a huge amount of credit going to the script, obviously). The story builds nicely and even though the movie can never shake its Oscar-bait predictability, it does reach a powerful conclusion.

Outside of Oldman's great performance, I really enjoyed Lily James here. She seems to be building a nice filmography. She's still young, but gives a strong performance here. Kristen Scott Thomas was decent, but she doesn't get a whole lot to do. It was fun seeing Stephen Dillane. The supporting cast as a whole worked, but this movie centers around Oldman and his presence takes up nearly all our attention.

If there's one complaint I can make (and I know I'm making quite a few for something that is indeed a great movie), it feels like this was a very safe movie. It cast a well established actor hunting for an Academy Award. It tells the real life story of a famous figure. It pits the good guys against the evil Nazis. It's 2017 and there's so many movies taking chances, trying new things. This movie feels like the kind of movie the Academy always recognizes. It's a great movie, but it's a safe one.

So, despite me wanting a little more, Darkest Hour is an engaging, engrossing film. It tells a powerful true story and it features a strong lead actor performance. I would absolutely put this on my top 10 movies of 2017.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 8



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The King's Speech