Movie Review: "Darkest Hour"

"Darkest Hour": A-.  One of the first things to know about Darkest Hour is that, ironically, it does a much better job of explaining the "Dunkirk predicament" of England during the very early stages of World War II than did the movie Dunkirk (reviewed here August 4, 2017; C).  In May, 1940, the German army had already invaded Belgium, Norway, Denmark, Poland and Czechoslovakia.  As the enemy moved southwest into France, the British continental army contingent of 300,000 soldiers was being squeezed against the Normandy coast near Dunkirk, hoping that their fellow countrymen could rescue them before annihilation by the Jerrys.  The only British brigades within striking distance of Dunkirk were located down the coast in Calais.  To call upon those men to rescue their marooned colleagues in Dunkirk would probably be a suicide mission.  

That is the crisis of the hour when Winston Churchill is handed the reins of the office of prime minister by the British Parliament, with the reluctant blessing of King George VI (Ben Mendelsohn).  The selection of Churchill is, at first blush, odd, yet practically unavoidable. His immediate predecessor, Neville Chamberlain (Ronald Pickup), was forced to resign due to his alleged weak leadership.  The members of Parliament turn to Churchill only when their first choice, Lord Halifax (Stephen Dillane), turns them down.  Churchill is regarded as a compromise candidate, an imperfect leader who has failed in his last important role as First Lord Of The Admiralty.  He is saltier and more ill-tempered than your typical politician, and drinks hard liquor at all hours, often in his pajamas.

Gary Oldman, with the aid of pounds of prosthetics and makeup which took hours each day to apply, plays Churchill.  A better verb might be that he becomes Churchill.  The veteran actor is convincingly authentic in a wide range of scenes, from the cigar-chomping leader rallying members of a divided Parliament, to several tete-a-tetes with his wise wife Clementine (Kristin Scott Thomas), to a (probably) apocryphal spur-of-the-moment ride with the commoners on the Tube, ostensibly to get their valued opinion on whether England should enter the war or capitulate to German conditions for peace.  Churchill's demeanor toward his dutiful and kind young secretary, Elizabeth Layton (the graceful Lily James), improves from crotchety to respectful, and he convinces the king over time that he's up for the job of being a war time prime minister. 

Director Joe Wright, using a script by Anthony McCarten, smartly keeps things moving with a run time a shade over two hours.  This is not a Churchill biopic. Rather, it concentrates on the incomparable statesman during his initial month in office.    

The story is a well-crafted mixture of history and politics.  Churchill's hawkish stance toward the Third Reich is looked upon as absurdly risky and unrealistic.  The Germans are clearly in control of Europe's fate.  Churchill's position as famously stated in a historic speech -- "We shall fight on the beaches" -- seems foolish, especially coming from someone who has been blamed for many poor military decisions years ago.  

He cleverly places his political foes, including Halifax, on his war cabinet so he can keep an eye on them.  The cabinet meetings are mostly for show, as the prime minister often disregards their advice if it is't consistent with the route he wishes to take.  In one memorable scene, Churchill sneaks into a private water closet for a trans-Atlantic phone call with U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.  The purpose of the off-the-record conversation is to ask the American ally for help in the imminent war with Germany.  The prime minister does not get the exact response from FDR he was hoping for, but the president does propose an off-the-wall alternative which, if historically true, is almost comical.

Gary Oldman's acting career started in the early 80's, with his filmography including over sixty movies.  In all that time he has only once been nominated for an Academy Award: 2012's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, losing in the Best Actor category.  That is about to change, as he is almost a lock to receive at least a nomination for Darkest Hour.  If he does win the award, it would be a mistake to think it was a "sympathy vote" or a kind of lifetime achievement recognition.  No, if he wins it will be due to his outstanding performance as one of the most important figures of the twentieth century.

Movie Review: "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri"

"Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri": B+.  About an hour into Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri I realized that Frances McDormand's lines reminded me of one of the first "dirty jokes" I'd heard as a kid.  (I would admit to telling the joke myself, but I don't want to be disqualified from someday holding public office.)  The joke was about a first grade teacher asking her students to give an example of a word starting with a particular letter of the alphabet.  She avoided calling on Johnny for an "A" word because she knew he would say "ass," or something worse.  And so it went with the teacher ignoring Johnny's raised hand as she proceeded along the alphabet.  No matter the letter, he was likely to come up with a nasty example.   In Three Billboards we are treated to the "N" word, the "C" word, the "F" word, the "M" word, and many more.  Mildred Hayes, McDormand's character, spews just about all the words that Johnny would have said, regardless of her recipient, be it her teenage son, a neighbor, or even her parish priest.  In short, Mildred Hayes is blue both figuratively and verbally.

Seven months have passed since Mildred's daughter, Angela, was brutally raped and murdered along a country road within sight of Mildred's front porch.  The local police, under the leadership of Sheriff Bill Willoughby (Woody Harrelson), have been unable to even identify, let alone arrest, any suspect.  How many more important things could be on their plate, Mildred wonders, in a village the size of Ebbing?  Her exasperation leads her to rent the three billboards of the title, questioning the dedication and competency of Willoughby and his staff.  The erection of the signs causes as much uproar in the town as the murder itself.  Willoughby may not be loved like Sheriff Andy Taylor of Mayberry fame, but he does have more admirers in town than does Mildred.

The scene which has stuck with me is when Willoughby pays Mildred a visit after she has erected the controversial billboards.  The sheriff attempts in vain to explain why his department has been unsuccessful finding Angela's killer: no witnesses, no material evidence left at the crime scene, no worthwhile leads, etc.  Willoughby feels Mildred is being unfair and unreasonable, yet his approach with her is calm and measured.  He gets nowhere, finally reluctantly resorting to telling her that he is dying from incurable cancer.  The look on actor Harrelson's face when Mildred brushes him off with a cold-hearted shrug is heart-rending.

The story is more about the varied assortment of interesting characters who reside in Ebbing than it is a murder mystery.  Willoughby's top deputy, Jason Dixon (Sam Rockwell), is more indignant over the billboards than is his boss.  He aims to take it out on Red Welby (Caleb Landry Jones), the young business owner who rented the billboards to Mildred.  Mildred's ex-husband, Charlie (John Hawkes), the dead girl's father, is running around town with a nineteen year old, Penelope (Samara Weaving), yet he is embarrassed by Mildred's actions.  There's even a dwarf, James (Peter Dinklage), who has an awkward dinner date with Mildred after he provides her with a false alibi following an arson committed at the police station.

Although it is not a Coen Brothers movie, it has the intangible feel of one: quirky people forced to interact with one another by virtue of a bizarre catalyst, which in this case is the billboard controversy.  In real life, McDormand is married to Joel Coen and has appeared in some of his films, so perhaps my perceived feel is not an illusion.

McDormand is a fine actress, but I am unable to hop on the band wagon of those predicting an Oscar.  Maybe I was too sensitive to the barrage of swearing, but I grew tired of it after awhile.  Her tone and persona remain dour throughout, another detraction against her Oscar chances.  I do, however, like the chances of Sam Rockwell for a supporting role award.  He starts out in the periphery, then builds Deputy Dixon into an important presence.  I also admired the work of Caleb Landry Jones.  As the billboard advertising owner, Welby, he is not as dumb or as soft as he first appears.

Even those who have heaped praise on this movie have to admit it has one major flaw.  The person who becomes the chief suspect -- really, the only suspect -- in the murder case is someone who just drops in out of the blue, with no previous on-screen connection, tangentially or otherwise, to anyone we've seen.  What is even more disappointing to those of us who appreciate a tight, well-written script, is that the circumstances under which that person becomes the chief suspect (an overheard conversation in a barroom booth) is totally, incredibly random and could only have survived a sharp editor's cut in the interest of keeping the movie's run time in check.