Darkest Hour - movie review

Darkest Hour

Plot: During the early days of World War II, the fate of Western Europe hangs on the newly-appointed British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who must decide whether to negotiate with Hitler, or fight on against incredible odds.
Cast: Gary Oldman, Lily James, Kristin Scott Thomas
Director: Joe Wright
Certificate: PG (mild bad language)
Runtime: 2hrs 5 mins
Release Date: Friday 12th January 2018

Gary Oldman has never won an Academy Award but on March the 4th 2018, he WILL claim the Academy Award for Best Actor and you can run and tell that. Set around the forthcoming Dunkirk evacuation, Darkest Hour chronicles the immediate days following Churchill's induction as the Prime Minister and how he overcomes opposition from both enemies and allies alike. There are numerous examples, throughout any awards season, where we encounter films that are very good but not quite great and only gain traction because they are bolstered by tremendous lead and supporting performances. Still Alice, Trumbo, Carol and Bridge Of Spies are all recent examples and Darkest Hour is yet another notch on that belt.

I'm going to word this very carefully so it can easily be understood by all; the fact that Gary Oldman has yet to receive an Academy Award is a crime. He's turned out roles in which he has transcended the notion of being a chameleon actor and officially disappeared within his performances. Oldman has such range. From Dracula to a deformed cannibal victim and even a Rastafarian pimp, there is no performance that Gary Oldman isn't capable of so casting him as Winston Churchill, one the Britain's greatest leaders, was a stroke of genius. Needless to say, Gary Oldman is spellbinding as Churchill to the point where you no longer believe you're watching someone play him and convince yourself this is remastered footage of the real Winston Churchill. Part of that is due to the fantastic practical make-up applied to make Oldman look the part, but even without the prosthetics, he'd still be pretty damn convincing as the war-time politician. Oldman perfects the entire personality of Churchill from the voice pattern to the intricate bodily mannerisms. As a film fan and a critic of films, it's such a pleasure to be able to watch a master with his craft and show us all why he earned our respect in the first place. I honestly cannot stress how much Oldman deserves all the praise in the world. Moments in which Churchill takes a stand and delivers some of his almighty rousing speeches, Oldman revels in the brutish ferocity and possibly ruins his throat in the process. I've never seen so many portly human beings shout so much at each other since The Jeremy Kyle Show. One final comment about Oldman before you probably close the page thinking this is just an 'I ❤ GARY OLDMAN' dedication post, and that's the way in which he nails Churchill's infamous grumble and mumble attitude. It is well known by most that it was a near impossibility to understand every word that Churchill said because of his gruff voice and Gary Oldman does an incredible job replicating it to the point where it becomes a struggle to even understand what he's saying. Fortunately, Oldman is such a talented actor that he emotes so clearly that despite the lines of dialogue being a tad incomprehensible, we're still able to make out what he's saying from the way he's saying it and his specific body language.

FACT: Gary Oldman spent over 200 hours in makeup undergoing a radical transformation that necessitated 'fattening' his body with prosthetics weighing half his own weight.

Darkest Hour isn't exactly a triumph, despite the bravado performance from Oldman, and that's partly to do with the script. Detailing the behind the scenes action of the evacuation of Dunkirk, the film pairs nicely with Christopher Nolan's war epic from the summer of 2017 yet it's clear which film has the leg up. Nolan made the war genre his own and made a cinematic masterpiece. Darkest Hour is a fairly safe and bland movie. Visually, it's a feast for the eyes because Joe Wright certainly knows how to frame a scene but underneath the surface, there's little to sing about. It's not inherently a bad film but personally, the whole thing seems a little basic. Wright is trying to focus on too much from the disputes within Churchill's own party, possibly negotiating peace with Germany and Italy, organising the evacuation of Dunkirk, maintaining a sweet marriage between him and his wife and also bonding with his new typist played confidently by Lily James. Oh, and then a clash of ideals between him and the King of England (Ben Mendelsohn) is thrown in for good measure. That's a lot to cover in the space of two hours and very little of those stories get sufficient coverage to leave a mark. Wright still manages to maintain an upbeat tone and importantly, keeps it British. It could have been tempting for Wright and his crew to alter the tone of the film to appeal internationally but I am pleased to report that, when watching Darkest Hour, British tendencies, behaviours and actions are all characteristically and pompously British to the point when watching speeches unfold and seeing the might of the public, it makes me feel proud to be British. That being said, I was still never overly invested in the main story itself and thought the film served more as a conduit for Oldman to hit a home run with his performance rather than supply that AND a cracking story. And then there's one scene that doesn't fit at all. I won't spoil it but it involves an underground train scene and puts historical accuracy in question thanks to an incredibly cliched and sickeningly cutesy sequence involving members of the public. It's out of place and slams on the brakes right as things were beginning to get interesting.

This may be a bizarre metaphor to make but Darkest Hour is like an overconfident talent show dog. It wins one major category (Best Actor) and then thinks he's Billy Big Bollocks and tries to jump through too many hoops in one swift motion and unsurprisingly catches a few on the way down. Oldman is a sure bet to win the Oscar in March and if not, I'll eat my entire collection of hats. Everything else about the film is good but still a fair distance away from greatness.

My Verdict: 7/10

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