3.5 stars out of 5
On a few occasions at my old job, I’d fly into St. Louis and then make the long, lonely drive to Jefferson City. Each time, I’d pass the exit for the National Winston Churchill Museum, which struck me as pretty random in the middle of Nowhere, Missouri. (They didn’t even have three billboards there.) But I was always on a schedule, so would drive on by. Finally in 2000, I built in enough time to visit the museum. The placement wasn’t random at all; it was located at the college in Fulton where Churchill delivered his “Iron Curtain” speech in 1946. I enjoyed my visit, even buying a Churchill t-shirt.
So I had enough interest, and enough forgotten knowledge due to the passage of years, to see Darkest Hour. It’s a good but not great movie, that early on feels like a pale imitation of Phantom Thread. Both are set in decades-ago London, both feature a quirky, driven male who unwittingly terrifies young women until calmed by an older woman.
By far, the main strength here is Gary Oldman’s performance. It’s the most prosthetic makeup he’s used since Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and it renders him into a nearly unrecognizable Old Man. There’s a hint of Albert Finney in there too. He’s fun, odd, stubborn, brilliant, desperate, and quite persuasive. Oldman deserves his Oscar nomination though does not deserve to win. (Point, Day-Lewis.)
Kristin Scott Thomas as Mrs. Churchill doesn’t get much chance to impress. King George VI is here, and I kept thinking that if this were the Marvel Universe, he’d be played by Colin Firth. He’s one of a couple of actors here who have that weird, annoying, upper-class British lisp.
There’s much solid information to learn here; if you’re like me, you often think World War II didn’t really begin until we entered. USA, USA, USA! But things were pretty freaking bleak in Europe, and ol’ Winston faced a hell of a first month in office. Unfortunately, especially in terms of Churchill biography, the movie is sloppily written: too much tell, not enough show.
However, the big man really knew how to deliver a speech, and that’s another real strong point of Darkest Hour. You can’t help but root for the guy. There’s a total baloney scene with Churchill on the London Underground getting advice and support from the regular folks — who knew there was a black guy in London way back when? — but it still works beautifully in a rah-rah populist way. Beat those goddamn Nazis! Oh, also, they summarize the Dunkirk story so now I don’t have to see that movie. Score!
Jack Silbert, curator