Review of Their Finest (2017) by Andrew K — 14 Feb 2018

Behind the scenes. Yes, we have another movie about the battle of Dunkirk. This is about a former secretary (Gemma Arterton) in London. She gets recruited to be a screenwriter for a propaganda film about the Dunkirk evacuation to rouse the troops, all the while Germany uses its Blitz attack from above on a nightly basis.

I know what you're thinking: for some inexplicable reason this past year has been Dunkirk overload in film. It has been. For. Sure. But who could have foreseen that the best of the lot of them is the one that nobody is talking about.

Dunkirk and Darkest Hour have both been doing quite well on the award circuit, but Their Finest has been neglected, which is a shame if you ask me, because it is the one that is most worthy of your time.

The reason why I like this so much is because it is less about the war and more about getting all the people on the same page to put together this film. Between this and Brigsby Bear, 2017 has been a brilliant year for movies about filmmaking.

While it is common to get movies about putting together a movie, it is rare where you actually get to see the writing process, which I found to be fascinating. The only other movie out there that I can really recall doing it to this extent was Barton Fink, and even then, that movie is more about writer's block and doesn't do what Their Finest does.

A large part about what makes this so successful is that you connect with the characters because they take the time to make them likable. As a result, you get completely invested in the story, far more than you do with the other higher profile Dunkirk films.

This is very much a feminist film, but it is in such way that it pulls it off without being overt, which I appreciated. All of these guys have egos that get way out of line, and our main character has to fight harder than she should have in the face of raging sexism just for her voice to be heard.

It is very compelling and it is put together in such a way that it makes it easy to root for her. The script is sharp and the dialogue is well written, which never hurts. Gemma does fantastic in her role, and she really is one of my favorite actresses that doesn't get cast in major roles for whatever reason.

Really, I wish I could tell you why more people aren't talking about this, it really is that good.