See It For The Performance

Rating: 9/10 (4 January 2018)

True Stories flood cinemas around the world all year long. Quite frankly, the majority of original content in terms of filmmaking all comes from a pre-existing story. Ideas are running out in terms of originality, but great films are still being made regardless and Darkest Hour is one of them. Depending on how you look at Darkest Hour, it's definitely worth mentioning when reflecting on the better movies of 2017. From performances to well-written dialogue, this is a film that transports you into this time period during the hard political times and keeps you intrigued throughout every moment. Although this experience may be a slow burn for some viewers, here's why I believe Darkest Hour deserves your time.
Whether or not he's successful in the end isn't the point of this film, but Darkest Hour follows the recent appointing of Prime Minister Winston Churchill (Gary Oldman) as he strives to find the best way to course correct during World War II. Having to decide whether or not to negotiate with Hitler, this movie treads on familiar historical accuracies, while also providing a few new pieces of insight that I was unaware of. The overall plot of this film is quite simple, but it's the intricacies of the dialogue and where the writers choose to take the character of Churchill throughout the film that truly makes it a worthy viewing experience.
Gary Oldman plays the both loved and hated Prime Minister and I must say, after experiencing this performance for myself, it's going to take a lot for another actor to deserve winning all the lead actor awards this coming season. Whether he's being comedic for dramatic relief or going all out in one of his speeches, I was truly blown away by how he transformed himself into this historical figure. Yes, that's also due to great direction by Joe Wright and incredibly prosthetic work to complete his performance, but those are all elements that work toward creating a great feature as a whole. Direction and performances were pitch perfect here, but the pacing is where I'd have no make my one complaint.
For myself, the dialogue kept the film moving at a very brisk pace, especially a specific sequence involving Churchill riding the subway. If you ever find yourself bored when watching this film, I believe this one scene will win you over. I was truly moved by the way that scene played out. That being said, Darkest Hour doesn't exactly have the action that a film like Dunkirk had earlier this year and that will definitely turn people off. Darkest Hour is more in line with movies like The Social Network or Steve Jobs in terms of letting dialogue drive the entire film. That's a hard pill for some people to swallow, but it really worked for me here, which is why it's such a mild complaint.
In the end, Darkest Hour proves that a film doesn't need to be exciting in the conventional ways in order to please moviegoers. I was riveted by certain scenes, simply due to the context of the dialogue being spoken. The drab look and slow pacing would've normally wished for the film to end, but everything about this film was just so well done. From perfect musical cues to performances that will have many in tears, I think Darkest Hour is easily one of the best movies of 2017. Once again, I just have to stress how incredibly talented Gary Oldman is in this role. If you find yourself not enjoying this movie as much as I did, I can guarantee his performance will at least pique your interest in a few key scenes. I highly recommend this film.