Review: Darkest Hour

Director Joe Wright attempts to bounce back from the dismal and dismissed Pan with a handsome biopic in the vain of the films that made his career. Exchanging his once muse Kiera Knightley for Gary Oldman in a pound of makeup, Wright has fashioned a serviceable if conventional film about Winston Churchill.

There is a curious timing to Darkest Hour, arriving in theaters after Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk and yet chronicling the days up until that historic event. The film start's in May on 1940 as Hitler's forces have invaded France and threaten to topple all of Europe. Churchill is faced with an incredible decision to either negotiate for peace or sacrifice many lives of British men to hold the fight. This all leads to Churchill's famous speech that rallied the nation and led to civilians hoping in boats to go save the men at Dunkirk.

Gary Oldman is barely recognizable here in a body suit and prosthetics. His performance is very mannered and seems like the Oscar bait that many would assume. And yet throughout the film, his performance begins to shed light on the immense consideration and care Churchill took in making his decision. It is a performance that manages to shine through all the makeup and big monologues into something that feels like a real person and less the figurehead that Churchill is known as. 

The film around him is less interesting. Darkest Hour takes place mostly in meeting rooms and Wright's usual visual flare is absent. It as if he returned to the safe basics of British filmmaking after the disastrous Pan, a film that almost made him retire. There is a sense throughout the film that he isn't taking chances. 

In a different year, one could imagine this film making a bit of a showing at awards season. However this year has been filled with far more creative and yet still crowd-pleasing movies. Nolan's Dunkirk casts a big shadow over this film. One is working at the highest level of filmmaking and while the other is routine. With the shared historical event at the center of both, it is hard not to compare the two films. 

Darkest Hour manages to make Churchill less a historical figure and more of a complex man, full of gruff, booze and purpose. This is largely due to the fine performance from Gary Oldman. The film itself never stirs the heart as Churchill's words do though and in the end this feels like a missed opportunity. 

Joe Wright has made some exciting, creative and technically brilliant films. This is a step in the right direction after a critical and commercial failure but its a safe step. Here's hoping he regains his confidence and can return to the filmmaking that brought us Anna Karenina and Hannah. 

3/5