In American circles, Winston Churchill does not get enough credit for the role he played in World War II. Americans like to see themselves as the true heroes of the war, but clearly the Prime Minister of England and his country stood alone fighting the entire German War Machine. Darkest Hour is a perfect showcase for an actor to play the iconic Brit, with Gary Oldman stepping in for his chance at an Oscar.
Darkest Hour focuses on Churchill’s (Gary Oldman) ascension to Prime Minister after the appeasement tactics of Neville Chamberlain (Ronald Pickup) failed. Churchill has to navigate political threats from Viscount Halifax (Stephen Dillane), his primary threat and a peace advocate, as well as a tepid King George VI (Ben Mendelsohn). As the Nazi grip on mainland Europe tightens, Churchill looks for hope and support from anywhere he can find it, like his wife Clemmie (Kristen Scott Thomas) or his new typist Elizabeth (Lily James).
But don’t fool yourself, Darkest Hour is mostly an acting showcase for a talented actor. Gary Oldman has been hilariously overlooked as a great actor for a long time, not being nominated for playing roles all over the place: Sid Vicious, George Smiley, Dracula, Commissioner Gordon, and Sirius Black. Ignoring the over the top makeup, he plays Churchill as well as any talented actor could. Over the course of the film, we see the guy playing an alcoholic, a crotchety old man, a loose political cannon, a savvy politician, a vulnerable old man, and a jokester. Oldman is front and center in every scene, and he finds the perfect note in each scene, regardless of how well this movie is written. It’s a great performance from a great actor, and the reason to see the Darkest Hour.
Because the rest of the story does more telling and zero showing of why Churchill is great, breaking the biggest sin of a screen writer. Multiple characters talk about how brilliant of a writer Churchill is, but we don’t really see why until his final speech, which is pretty great, but Darkest Hour doesn’t earn that praise. We get glimpses of Churchill’s life at home, but it really minimizes his wife’s role in his life during this time, which I imagine was a bigger deal than the movie is letting on. The biggest failing of Darkest Hour is the presentation of political strategizing by the Prime Minister. I really question how great of a politician Churchill was, and how strokes of luck only dictated his legend. His Calais attack is presented as a folly, even though you could have framed it like a brilliant distraction to get all the troops out at Dunkirk. The evacuation is Churchill’s greatest achievement, but the movie doesn’t focus on how he fought and thought out how to save everyone, it seems more like a whim than anything else. Everything seemed to fall into place and happen at the right time, and maybe that’s the point, but if the movie is designed to show how great Churchill was, Darkest Hour does not exactly present the most flattering portrayal of the man.
Word on the Oscar street is this is Gary Oldman’s finest hour. True, the man is overdue for some sort of recognition for how great of an actor he has been. I just wish he had been better surrounded by a great movie than this one. Darkest Hour will most be remember by Gary Oldman’s brightest hour, for sure.