Oldman playing old, but still strong Churchill. Do we need to say more? Yes, why else would I write such a long review!

Rating: 6/10 (3 February 2018)

During the early days of World War II, Britain faces its darkest hour as the threat of Nazi invasion looms. The fate of Western Europe hangs on the leadership of the newly-appointed Prime Minister Winston Churchill (Gary Oldman).
Also starring: Kristin Scott Thomas, Ben Mendelsohn, Lily James, Stephen Dillane, Ronald Pickup et al.
"Darkest Hour" is one of the best-reviewed movies of this Oscar season, and has gathered quite a nice reputation thanks to both reviews and word of mouth.
It's not bad but I have to admit that I came away unimpressed, and started feeling bored after the first 50 minutes or so - which means even before reaching the midpoint of this quite long movie.
Everybody's talking about Gary Oldman being sensational as the legendary Churchill, and he is cool indeed, commanding the story deftly with his veteran actor magic.
There's actually not much room for others but they manage to leave a mark too, notably Scott Thomas as Churchill's wife and Ben Mendelsohn as King George VI. These two are the main characters through whom we get to catch glimpses of what the great Churchill might have been actually like in real life.
But this is where the must-see ends, I'm afraid. "Darkest Hour" was produced with 2017/18's awards season in mind, with the typical shortcomings of such kind of "prestige project".
Meaning that the story is shallow and concentrates mostly on showing aged Churchill shambling around like a cigar-, alcohol- and bacon-loving zombie, not on what exactly makes him such a legend of historical figure.
Yes, just seeing the great man is nice, and would make a great sketch, or short movie, or even a supporting character in some other movie. But for a screen story lasting over two hours, this approach feels like a one-trick-pony who's exhausted before the end of the journey.
There's some but not enough explanations, be it through saying or showing, what exactly is so special about Winston Churchill, neither as a human being or politician being able to convince Great Britain to stand up instead of surrendering to Nazi threat.
Based on his great speech in the end, I didn't even buy him winning all the other leaders over. So, I'd conclude that the movie is a bit underwhelming as a whole, and the leading man alone can't quite remedy that.
For me, director Joe Wright's works have always been more about interesting story and good actors than enough nuance to make them really memorable. And this is true in "Darkest Hour" case too.
Having said that, Oldman and his performace are good drawing cards for sure. It's a award-winning turn, and steady show from veteran thespian who doesn't need to prove anything anymore.
Oldman's greatest artistic achievement here is ability to bring out two sides of Churchill: an old and tired geezer who's most comfortable in the company of food, drink and smoke AND powerful orator and politican who has not lost his strengths to withering body and mind just yet.
The make-up and hairstyling used to make Oldman look older can't - and are not meant to - hide the sharp, ferocious, wolf-like energy still ticking behind the crumbling facade.
During the moments when it shines through, we get the best of him on screen, and the best of the performance. There's only a small problem of having to wait about 50 minutes to see any of that. The first act of the movie is satisfied on showing just how cool is to see Oldman as Churchill instead.
There's nothing inherently wrong with a movie being made with awards season in mind, or being based on one strength. But it should last less: there's simply not enough interesting content to justify 126 minutes' running time.
"Darkest Hour" has been nominated for six Oscars, including best movie, actor (Oldman), make-up and hair, cinematography, costume design, production design.
Oldman and make-up department seem to have strong chance of winning, especially considering the veteran thespian turns 60 soon and has been nominated for Oscar only once so far (with "Tinker Tailor...").