Darkest Hour

It feels like we've been watching a lot of dramas about World War II recently, and specifically about the man at the top of the British side of the war. So it seems natural that we finally arrive at one that centers on the man at the top, Winston Churchill. Darkest Hour is about the first month or so of Churchill's first term (did you know he re-won the Prime Ministership in the 50's? I didn't). He wasn't a popular pick, and his bluster and defiance against the idea of peace talks unlike his predecessor splintered his coalition cabinet from day one. This led to something referred to, at least on Wikipedia, as the 1940 Cabinet Crisis. Darkest Hour is about that. If you're looking for a WW2 movie with explosions and the heat of battle, you're in the wrong place, because this is old, stodgy politicians talking a lot. It's an actor's movie, not a spectacle, and to that end, it's a bit Oscar baity. It worked, since it nabbed Gary Oldman his one and only Oscar (something he deserved long before this, and for several other roles), but the movie does feel a bit like it was designed to nab Academy votes. That doesn't make it bad, as there isn't a bad performance in the bunch. But with the movie's tendency towards monologues, tearful realizations, heart-to-heart chats, a liberal divergence from the real history, and a gruff old man warming in no small part because of the presence of a younger person in his life, it feels like the primary goal was Making A Prestige Drama, not telling the true story. If you can get past the on-their-sleeve ambitions of the movie, and its eager willingness to gussy up history with unnecessary flourishes (the subway scene is particularly cheesy and 100% fake), the acting is still great to watch. While Lily James doesn't get nearly enough to do except be Churchill's secretary and be the young person that warms his stone cold heart, she's still a welcome presence amidst all the harrumphing from old men. Ben Mendelsohn is always a welcome site, too, as the King, even if his accent is ... odd. It kind of sounds English by way of Swedish? Maybe King George really talked that way, I don't know. It just sounds off. Kristen Scott-Thomas as Churchill's supportive wife is also a welcome sight. But this movie belongs to Oldman as Churchill, who is rarely recognizable as Oldman. His Churchill is a man who is full of bravado and defiance in public, and in private, tenuous and scared. I don't know how accurate it is, but it makes Churchill human, at least for the movie, and Oldman just disappears into the role. You know, like he always does. Not much to say on the rest of the movie's components; direction, score, all that, it's all what it needs to be. Nothing amazing, nothing bad. Just precisely what it needs to be. And that's fine. The reasons to watch this movie are: 1) Gary Oldman, 2) an interest in history, and 3) Oldman again. It doesn't quite respect history on its own, but perhaps it'll inspire those curious to read the real history. As for Oldman, well, the title may be Darkest Hour, but according to the Academy, it's his finest. That should be enough of a reason to check it out.