In this, we see our former Prime Minister during the build-up to D-Day. After seeing it, I don't think this was the right point in time to give an entertaining piece on the person many claim as the greatest Briton of all-time.
The majority of the film moves along quite nicely with a great looking production design and gripping performances. You do the seriousness of the situation our main characters are facing and remains tense. But sadly, the film for me did show us the greatest Briton of all-time. What I got from this instead, was a bumbling old fool out of his time and always in the way.
Thankfully, the film does have its strengths, and that is thanks to the performances. Brian Cox is great in it. It's very committed and there were scenes where certain camera angles did make you feel that the man himself is there on screen.
Miranda Richardson had great moments Churchill's wife Clementine. Her performance gave us a character we can easily sympathize and her chemistry with Cox was as good as you would expect from two modern members of British acting royalty.
It was also great to see a solid supporting cast such as John Slattery, Ella Purnell and Danny Webb.
With the choice of story being the main negative. There were also moments that felt melodramatic and it was as if I was watching a BBC One prime-time evening drama or mini-series. That can be seen as not such a bad thing. But for something that should be cinematic, there was a lot of scenes that didn't.
My best analogy is that it had a bit of 'The Iron Lady' syndrome. For a film centered on a British icon, you can would expect them to show the character at their best, instead getting towards the end of their days.
That being said, the film is pretty decent on the whole. It portrays that moment in history rather well, its looks great and the performances are top notch.
I'm still looking forward to 'Darkest Hour' as I feel that will a more definitive Churchill film.
Rating: 7/10
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