Review of Glorious 39 (2009) by Cath O — 26 Dec 2009
Well acted if slightly ponderous at times, this drama features the period just before WWII and how a family becomes embroiled in the plotting and intrigue by those seeking to avoid war with Germany. However, a great cast led by Romola Garai and Bill Nighy struggle with the rather slow first hour. The film also has an oddly unsatisfying ending. We really want to see what happened to those nasty villains!
On the plus side, the film looks great with a really nice sense of period detail. I've always found Stephen Poliakoff's work rather over rated, although this one was particularly enjoyable when Anne(Garai) becomes convinced everyone is out to get her, including her family. The sense of menace and paranoia is well done, although the actual reason for the way she is treated is rather illogical when you think about it - why didn't they just keep her out of everything?
Romola Garai is becoming one of my favourite actresses and veterans like Christopher Lee, Corin Redgrave, Julie Christie and Jenny Agutter make this a classy production. Add in memorable little roles for David Tennant and Jeremy Northam and this is a slightly overlong but enjoyable suspense drama dealing with a little known period of British history.
This review of Glorious 39 (2009) was written by Cath O on 26 Dec 2009.
Glorious 39 has generally received mixed reviews.
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