Better if taken as an actors showcase.

Rating: 7/10 (1 April 2019)

Gary Oldman finally picked up a (most deserved) Best Actor Oscar for his sterling work here. Acting under makeup and prosthetics, Oldman delivers the goods as the legendary 20th century politician Winston Churchill, a man who certainly had a gift for orating. As the film begins, it's the "darkest hour" of WWII, and hopes are severely diminished against the ferocious onslaught of Hitlers' military forces. The public has decided that current Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (Ronald Pickup) is not cutting the mustard any more, and makes it clear that they want change. Churchill is offered his job, and learns that by accepting it, he will have to accept that people have little faith in him. He will have to earn their trust.
Ultimately, the film is better seen as a showcase for its wonderful cast than as a story. It ends just when it's getting interesting, and it would have been nice to have seen more of an assessment of Churchills' overall achievements. As it is, it often focuses on Churchills' confrontations with indignant associates, who think that there are already strikes against him in his past history. Yet, we do get some sense of the heavy weight that this man bore, as he took every setback and all casualties to British forces to heart.
Assisted by his makeup team (who also brought home Oscars), Oldman is able to completely disappear into this role. You won't recognize the actor, but you'll be struck by his ability to engage the viewer, and get them involved in the story. The supporting cast is equally strong: Ben Mendelsohn as King George VI, Lily James as Churchills' sometimes overwhelmed typist Elizabeth Layton, Stephen Dillane as Viscount Halifax, Samuel West as Sir Anthony Eden, David Schofield as Clement Atlee, etc. However, Kristin Scott Thomas gets precious little to do over the two hour five minute run time, as Churchills' devoted wife Clemmie.
In the end, this is typical filmmaking, in which events are either dramatized or fictionalized entirely, which once again just goes to show you that with movies, you sometimes just have to take them with a grain of salt. Not that I know many people who really expect an accurate depiction of history with this sort of thing.
Seven out of 10.