Brilliant portrayal of a brilliant man in a brilliant picture

Rating: 9/10 (20 December 2017)

Gary Oldman has 88 acting credits on his IMDB page. Incredibly, this fine actor has only been nominated for an Oscar 1x - as Lead Actor in 2012's TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY. He did not win.
This streak will end at this year's Academy Awards.
Oldman's performance as Winston Churchill in Joe Wright's DARKEST HOUR is the kind of acting performance that comes around only once every few years. It is the right mix of actor, script, director and role combining all of these factors perfectly to bring you a portrayal of a character that is insightful and unforgettable.
Based on a script by Anthony McCarten (THEORY OF EVERYTHING), DARKEST HOURS chronicles the events behind the scenes in England in May, 1940 - the time where Churchill was named Prime Minister and immediately had to deal with the rising Nazi threat as well as the fact that almost the entire British Army - 300,000 troops - are trapped on the coast of a place called Dunkirk.
This behind-the-scenes drama is the perfect kind of film for Director Joe Wright (ATONEMENT, PRIDE & PREJUDICE) and he excels here. His eye for captivating pictures and scenarios sets just the right tone for this film, never going to hard (or too soft), focusing on the man at the center of the storm and the real human cost (both in troops and to Churchill himself) that unfold during the events depicted.
But it is his work with the actors that Wright really shines. Besides Oldman, Lilly James, Kristen Scott-Thomas, Ben Mendelsohn and Stephen Dillane all give strong, refined performances understanding the tone of the film and their place in it. These are all strong supporting turns in a film with a hurricane at the center that could have easily blown these supporting players away. But it doesn't, thanks to Wright's direction of these fine supporting actors and (especially) Oldman's captivating and generous performance.
I was pulled into this film from the start and was never pulled out. The spaces and the silence between words and gestures were filled with raw emotion (some will think it is slow and boring, but I couldn't disagree more). In this day of quick cuts and fast, CGI-Laden special effects, it is nice to watch a slower moving (but not slow moving) drama with interesting characters unfold before you to tell a real - and necessary - story.
This film will garner quite a few deserved Oscar nominations this year, but there is one shoo-in. Bet the mortgage on Gary Oldman taking home the Oscar for Best Actor this February.
Letter Grade: A
9 (out of 10) stars and you can take that to the Bank (ofMarquis)