As we approach the Golden Globe Awards on January 7th, we already know which films have been nominated for their respective awards, Although the nominees are well chosen, the one that obviously stood out is that of Gary Oldman playing Winston Churchill in "Darkest Hour" with painstaking realism.
May, 1940. Within days of becoming Prime Minister of Great Britain, Winston Churchill (Gary Oldman) must face one of his most turbulent and defining trials: exploring a negotiating peace treaty with Nazi Germany, or standing firm to fight for the ideals, liberty and freedom of a nation. It becomes extremely difficult to convey his solutions to Parlament, specifically King George VI (Ben Mendelsohn) and previous Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (Ronald Pickup), so he hires a dictation secretary, Elizabeth Layton (Lily James) in order to make his written speeches come to life. As the unstoppable Nazi forces roll across Western Europe and threat of invasion is imminent, and with an unprepared public, a skeptical King, and his own party plotting against him, Churchill must withstand his darkest hour, rally a nation, and attempt to change the course of world history.
Others to round out the cast are Kristin Scott Thomas as Clemmie Churchill, wife of Winston, Stephen Dillane as Viscount Halifax, Nicholas Jones as Sir John Simon, Samuel West as Sir Anthony Eden, David Schofield as Clement Atlee, Richard Lumsden as General Ismay and Malcolm Storry as General Ironside.
This was directed by the 'period' king, Joe Wright ("Pride & Prejudice" '05, "Atonement" '07, "The Soloist" '09, "Hanna" '11, "Anna Karenina" '12, "Pan" '15) plus TV and shorts. This filmmaker has put a whole different twist on the period film in that his eye for detail is painstaking so it almost seems that you're viewing a documentary. He brings the character of Churchill to life in this production, although with a consummate actor such as Oldman is, how could he go wrong? It will be interesting to see how his direction for "Stoner" turns out which is in pre-production. It was written with cohesiveness, and with a tight script by Anthony McCarten ("Show of Hands" '08, "Death of a Superhero" '11, "The Theory of Everything" '14) plus TV. This writer doesn't have a huge resume, but what he has is quality, especially "The Theory of Everything". With this film under his belt, he will be able to obtain a plethora of more quality work. Has this guy earned more work? Well, the future says yes considering he has three films brewing: "The Siege" which is announced, "National Anthem" '18 which is in pre-production and "Bohemian Rhapsody" '18 which is in post production. I think he's paid his dues. As I was watching this film, I couldn't help but believe that not only Oldman will be nominated for a best actor Academy Award, but will surely win. How do I know? Just a gut feeling, but so much of the time, those feelings are accurate.
If you're a history buff and love fine acting you will love this, because it's a great way to learn something historical all the while being entertained with great writing, directing and acting, specifically by Gary Oldman and the supporting cast as well.
Out of 4 Stars: 4 Rated: PG-13 124mins.
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