An average motion picture headed by a magnetic performance.

Rating: 7/10 (18 March 2018)

Darkest Hour was the second Best Picture nominee about the battle of Dunkirk at the Oscars this year. In May of 1940, British troops have been trapped on the beaches of Dunkirk. The Labour party demands the resignation of the incumbent prime minister, Neville Chamberlain. This leads to the controversial Winston Churchill (Gary Oldman) receiving the job of prime minister. Churchill who has suffered criticism for his leadership during the Gallipoli campaign in World War I is a choice that doesn't fit well with the people of England including King George (Ben Mendelsohn) himself. In this darkest hour Churchill must find a choice to either fight or to negotiate peace with Adolf Hitler. Without the help of the US government of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Churchill is pushed to his limits. Darkest Hour is a authentic and slow movie (even though its only 2 hours long). It features a small ensemble of interesting choices led by Gary Oldman in his deserved Academy Award winning performance. He pulls of the small mannerisms of Churchill with such ease, speaks in an authentic accent and looks great in the makeup that Oldman simply becomes Churchill. He is especially convincing in scenes where he yells his speech in front of parliament. Oldman even uses many of the Churchill mannerisms to his advantage to give some comedic relief. This helps the audience to be drawn to his character. The rest of the cast consists of Kristin Scott Thomas as Churchill's wife, she gives him strength and courage and her chemistry with Oldman is perfect. Lily James adds youth and inexperience and Ben Mendelsohn is gripping in his brief role as the King. The film feels authentic due to the great costume which consists of old fashioned suits, uniforms and hats. This together with the production design makes the setting of 1940 London even more authentic. The film makes the smart decision to keep things light hearted when necessary. Especially towards the start which shows Churchill to be somewhat of an outsider and slightly out of touch. Besides the actors, costume or production design the best word to describe this film would be competent. There is nothing interesting about Joe Wright's direction or Dario Marianelli's music. The writing feels clunky and wooden in certain scenes, especially at the start when people exposit about Churchill's character and past. As stated before, the film had some unexpected humour, which works for the most part. However the film unfortunately never becomes all that serious until the very end, and even at that point the picture never really becomes suspenseful. Even with this being a somewhat conventional drama, I would still recommend everyone to see this in particular for Gary Oldman's performance and for the important message of unity. Which in today's world is often forgotten especially in times with 'America First' or Brexit.