Review of Their Finest (2017) by Farah R — 12 Sep 2018

In London 1940, Catrin Cole (Gemma Arterton) is summoned to an interview at the Ministry of Information, where she is taken on to write scripts for short information films. Her husband Ellis Cole (Jack Huston) is a war artist, unable to secure an exhibition and exempted from conscription due to a Spanish Civil War leg wound. He is initially accepting of her job, but when she becomes the only wage earner he begins to feel threatened and plans to send her back home to Wales, on the pretence of keeping her safe from the London Blitz. After a clash with the actor Ambrose Hilliard (Bill Nighy) when he asks for a change to one of her scripts, Catrin's superiors send her to research a news story about twin sisters Lily and Rose sailing their father's boat to take part in the Dunkirk evacuation. She discovers that they had actually been mistakenly reported as reaching Dunkirk. In reality, their boat had had engine trouble just off Southend-on-Sea shortly after setting off. They had to be towed back into port by a tug that had taken part in the evacuation, although they had taken onboard soldiers from the overcrowded tug. At risk of losing her Ministry job and being sent back to Wales, Catrin lies to her superiors and they agree to make the film as "The Nancy Starling," with Catrin, Tom Buckley (Sam Claflin), and Raymond Parfitt as the scriptwriters. While the London endures German bombs the trio share a hope to contribute something meaningful in this time of war and in their own lives...

In the British press, Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian called the character of Hilliard "a colossally proportioned scene-stealer" and wrote that "Arterton brings a rather beautiful kind of restraint to her role". Wendy Ide of The Observer praised the "rattling, screwball rhythm" of Catrin and Tom's "banter" but noted that some of the plot could have been "more persuasively developed" and that without the twist of Tom's death the film "could have torpedoed itself with predictability". However, she praised that twist as the film's "boldest decision... [which robs] the audience of an outcome we are expecting in a way that nobody sees coming", as well as calling the "film-within-a-film structure ... a neat device". Geoffrey Macnab of the Independent wrote that "Some of the in-jokes begin to grate" but called Arterton's performance "well-judged and engaging" and noted the "scene-stealing antics" of Nighy, Lacy and Irons, particularly lauding Hilliard's shift from "comic buffoon ... [to] depth and pathos". Robbie Collin of the Telegraph called it a "handsome, rousing, rigorous entertainment you can't help but play along with" and "Sparklingly adapted", with "bristly chemistry" between the two leads. He noted Scherfig's direction, with the "broad and rosy spoof" of the film-within-a-film and the gender inequalities of the period left "to squirm away unhindered in the subtext" rather than countered with anachronistic "spiky comebacks".

There´s something very WWII compelling about "Their Finest Hour" with some fine performances from Gemma Arterton, Bill Nighy etc, but the story is not fully satisfying and there´s no real highs or lows. It´s just on a flat line throughout the film and nothing really happens within yourself. There´s no emotional reaction. And I didn´t really buy into the twist with Buckley´s death. I was hoping for something better in my opinion as the plot is intriguing, meaning there´s a missed opportunity of a better film than "Their Finest Hour".