Now in theaters
Director: Joe Wright
Starring: Gary Oldman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Lily James, Stephen Dillane, Ronald Pickup, Ben Mendelsohn
There’s a scene in Darkest Hour in which personal secretary Elizabeth Layton (James) awkwardly tells Winston Churchill (Oldman) that, because his palm was turned inward, his intended V for Victory pose for newspapers was actually a vulgar symbol. Churchill and Layton share a hearty laugh over it, and at that moment you really feel like Churchill’s legendary ebullience makes it onto the big screen. It’s a nice moment, seeing Churchill find some levity amid the terrible turmoil he’s tasked with leading Britain through.
Darkest Hour could have used more moments like that. Taking place in the days just before and after his May 1940 appointment to the office of Prime Minister, the film concentrates on Churchill’s early battles with governmental preference for peace negotiations with Germany, the situation in Dunkirk (Wright dealt with Dunkirk before in Atonement), and the general process of Churchill trying to win over Parliament. It’s evocative of Spielberg’s Lincoln, another film which eschewed the traditional biopic formula to tell a tighter, more focused story about a pivotal moment in a historical figure’s life. The comparison isn’t a flattering one to Darkest Hour, which suffers a bit from getting too bogged down in war council meetings and parliamentary politicking. Where Spielberg deftly moves the plot with energy, Wright’s film feels a bit uneven.
That’s not to say Darkest Hour is a bad film. It’s a pretty good one, and the biggest reason is Gary Oldman, whose performance as Churchill really commands the screen. While it occasionally strikes you as more impression than performance, it’s one hell of an impression, and that can’t be ignored. He’s so magnetic, and that magnetism is key to playing Churchill. Even if I think the “best of his career” talk is overkill (his turns in Leon: The Professional and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy both instantly strike me as better), Oldman really does an excellent job here. That’s particularly the case when Churchill gets away from his war council and Parliament. In these smaller-stakes, more personal moments, Oldman’s Churchill really comes to life.
Part of the reason Darkest Hour is at its best away from the politics is that the script’s best characters are found outside the political world. Lily James is sweetly earnest as Layton. Ben Mendelsohn is excellent as King George VI (I separate those who can’t be voted out from the political world, I suppose). His meetings with Churchill, where he attempts to train Britain’s Bulldog as best he can, are awkwardly humorous. Kristin Scott Thomas plays Clementine, Winston’s wife, and she’s good in her (too) few scenes. Perhaps the best scene is one where Churchill takes a trip into the public sphere and interacts with civilians. It’s a scene that winds up being both funny and inspirational, and it has a life to it that some other stuffier scenes lack.
Darkest Hour may have its issues with pacing and story focus, but it’s still a good film with a powerhouse performance, and it tells a story that’s worth telling. Winston Churchill inspired Britain and the world in 1940, and it’s fun to see that presence come to life on the big screen. By the time he delivered his iconic “Never Surrender” speech, I too was ready to fight on the beaches, on the landing grounds, in the fields, and in the streets. It’s powerful stuff on the big screen, even if the best lines in the film were written nearly 80 years ago by Churchill himself.
Is it Watchlist-worthy? Yes.