Review of Darkest Hour (2017) by Chris W — 21 Jan 2018

It's no wonder Gary Oldman is finally being spoken of as an Oscar front runner playing the 'Greatest Briton' in this fairly conventional awards bait drama. Joe Wright ticks every box from soaring orchestration, mood lighting, to disguising his leading man in heavy prosthetics and splicing every memorable speech and quotation into his two-hour ode to Churchill.

However cliched the format may be and how broad the directorial brush, what is created is immensely enjoyable. Any film set on the eve of WWII delivers tension and high emotion, but Oldman delivers something new with a nuanced performance as Winston, giving us glimpses behind the bluster to confusion, uncertainty, selfishness and even recklessness.

It's a shame that McCarten's script doesn't indulge our curiosities much, hinting at the conflict of a side-lined family but choosing to focus on the more obvious political battles. Even so it does add more colour to the school history lessons (Churchill wasn't an instant national treasure after all) and generally it's engrossing.

Better start typing out your own rousing speech Mr Oldman as surely, it's only a matter of time...