Darkest Hour

It is an exemplary Oscar drama. If only the film screened in any different time, but it has to appear at the beginning of January, the typical date for the release of Oscar movies. It doesn’t get more obvious than this. And of course, Gary Oldman is awesome in it. It is even more fascinating if you have seen him in films like Lost in Space, which is over twenty years old, and then you see him play the role of Winston Churchill. Of course, it looked like Churchill was played by Churchill himself. That traditionally stands out over everything else in the movie, which always happens with films like this. (2018-01-31)

On the one hand, Darkest Hour is primarily a one-actor film, and Gary Oldman proves his mastery here. On the other hand, it's also a film about a time that was very unpleasant, but in which people still lived and wanted to live, and it can even be presented in a funny way. Churchill was a strong personality and deserved a film like this. (2018-01-28)

A great comedy about obesity and a wonderful drama about the fact that sometimes it is necessary to change perspective so that even the most stubborn person can believe his own convictions. For the first time, Wright's calligraphy doesn't seem to be an extra aspect to me. The brutally cut scene with a phone call when someone is on the toilet is one of its highlights. The amazing Mendelsohn and Oldman. The screenplay is very thesis-based, but somehow it has punch even in weaker moments. Wright mobilizes film language and tells perhaps a simple, but impressive message of an unwavering spirit. (2020-03-13)

An engineering film, perhaps for the target audience of naive naturalised university students who feel that a degree is the holy grail and the key to good results. In a figurative sense, this is the same Joe Wright, director of the 11-year-old and brilliantly polished Atonement. He tries to make every scene formally, aesthetically and dialogically perfect so that the charge, juice and density of the story actually slips through his fingers like a knife through butter with nonchalant elegance. But the ending is way off the mark. If it is supposed to be Oscar bait, it was not very successful. If the film worked as a mere vehicle to highlight Gary Oldman's makeup and acting, then OK. (2018-02-28)

Winston Churchill is a very controversial figure for me. The film deals with his becoming the Prime Minister at a time when everything seemed to be lost, and it’s true that it was he who managed to galvanize Britain to fight on. However, as the war progressed, his interfering with the decisions concerning war operations often proved counter-productive (Force Z, Mers el-Kebir, trying to open up the front in the Balkans, etc.). Gary Oldman in the role of Churchill was good; I liked John Lithgow in The Crown better, though. I wasn't bored for a single moment, I've always found British politics interesting, especially war politics. Like many other users, I was disappointed by the massive load of political correctness. All that was missing after the tanned young man said the last words of the poem was to casually mention that he was a renowned surgeon and sang opera in his spare time. Oh well... (2018-07-06)