Tonight's Movie: Darkest Hour (2017)

My last new theatrical film of 2017 was DARKEST HOUR (2017) starring Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill.

The movie depicts Churchill's election as Prime Minister of Great Britain in the spring of 1940, replacing Neville Chamberlain, and the ensuing crises regarding whether to conduct peace talks with Germany and the near-loss of much of the British Army at Dunkirk.

I've read several conflicting essays regarding the film's historical accuracy, but a column by historian Steven Hayward at PowerLine helped convince me to see it. Initially dubious about the film's portrayal of Churchill and events, after considering the film further Hayward wrote "I now think Darkest Hour is a great movie, and a genuine achievement... Now I can't wait to see it again." (Don't miss Hayward's piece, which quotes from some fascinating family letters Hayward's British relative wrote during the time frame depicted in the film.)

From a cinematic point of view, it's an excellent film which I enjoyed as much as anything I've seen this year. Despite the tense storyline, I found it quite relaxing spending time with this movie, completely absorbed in the characters and situations. I tend to prefer shorter films and was surprised when it was over and I realized it had run over two hours (125 minutes, to be exact). It went quickly and the pace seemed just right.

Oldman might not be the late Robert Hardy, considered by many the best screen Churchill -- a role Hardy played at least a dozen times -- but Oldman had me completely sold on his version of the prime minister.

Also excellent were Kristin Scott Thomas as Clementine Churchill and Ronald Pickup as Neville Chamberlain. Lily James, who plays Churchill's secretary Elizabeth Layton, is an appealing actress (CINDERELLA, BABY DRIVER) I look forward to seeing in future films. Her character helps to bring out some of Churchill's less delicate habits and also represents the "ordinary people" who were doing their bit to cope with the war.

One of the really interesting things about the film for me was the parallels I saw with modern-day U.S. politics. The establishment types found Churchill completely annoying -- indeed, King George VI (Ben Mendelsohn) confessed Churchill "scared" him -- and they were dismayed by some of his coarse habits (alllll those drinks and cigars!), his combative spirit, and his refusal to go along to get along, particularly when it came to peace talks. Viewers can draw their own comparisons and conclusions but I was left feeling that in some ways "the more things change, the more they stay the same." There's really nothing new under the sun.

One of the best scenes in the film finds the King visiting Churchill and the two men finally coming to a meeting of the minds, with the King pledging to back Churchill all the way. It's a quiet scene of immense power.

A sequence with Churchill getting the opinions of the "common people" on the Underground was contrived and perhaps the only unbelievable note in the film, but I confess I enjoyed it nonetheless. It's a nice "flag waving" moment, so to speak.

I was also struck that although -- with the exception of a single shot of boats -- DARKEST HOUR reduces Dunkirk to pins on a map, it somehow captured more of the scale of the "miracle at Dunkirk" than this year's Christopher Nolan film, or, for that matter, the 1958 version of the event. Perhaps someday there will be a Dunkirk film which manages to depict the enormity of what was accomplished.

I saw three new films on World War II this year, the final film of the trio being THEIR FINEST (2017), and DARKEST HOUR was by far the best. I enjoyed the other two films to varying degrees but they had definite weaknesses. DARKEST HOUR was solid all the way.

DARKEST HOUR was directed by Joe Wright from a script by Anthony McCarten. It was filmed by Bruno Delbonnel.

Parental Advisory: This film is rated PG-13 for "some thematic material." The rating seems like absurd overkill for a film with drinking, smoking, and a single bombing. Whether children under 13 would be interested in the film is another question, but I really don't understand this rating.

A trailer is at YouTube.

Recommended.