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.