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Awix (3310 KP) rated Darkest Hour (2017) in Movies

Feb 10, 2018 (Updated Feb 10, 2018)  
Darkest Hour (2017)
Darkest Hour (2017)
2017 | Drama, History, War
7
8.1 (57 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
Doesn't quite get to the Nub of the Issue
Yet another trip back to the Second World War, with plucky little Britain taking on the world single-handed, etc, etc. Essentially a kind of companion piece to Nolan's Dunkirk, with Gary Oldman's newly-installed Prime Minister having to oversee the retreat of the British army while contending with voices in his own government who want to enter peace negotiations with the Nazis.

Well, obviously British film-makers do this kind of heritage project quite well, and this is a polished movie even if it doesn't offer anything terribly original. The whole thing is carried along by Oldman's bravura performance - it must be said that Gary Oldman, thanks to the magic of prosthetic make-up it took three hours to apply, does look very much like Gary Oldman wearing three hours' worth of prosthetic make-up, but his performance is good enough to make you overlook the (lack of) resemblance.

You could possibly take exception to the film's rather rose-tinted depiction of Churchill, but for me the real flaw in the film is this - the central question posed by the story is just where Churchill's resolve to keep fighting came from, when everyone around him advised otherwise, and the situation seemed so abject. Was he such an idealistic champion of liberty, or foe of fascism? (Historical evidence suggests otherwise.) Or was he just a contrarian old bugger in love with his own legend? The movie doesn't find an convincing answer to this question. Still, otherwise well-made and engaging, and unlikely to outrage mild-mannered elderly relatives.