A Movie Review: Darkest Hour

Darkest Hour. I have to admit that Darkest Hour was not on my list of movies to see. I was thinking: I've already seen Dunkirk. Darkest Hour is basically Dunkirk from the viewpoint of British politicians versus the British military. Then the movie got a nomination for Best Picture so I decided to see what the fuss was all about.

The movie opens with calls in Parliament for Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain to resign. He had followed a policy of appeasement towards the Nazis. With country after country falling to the Germans, British politicians were calling for his head. And so it was delivered.

Initially, the Conservative Party -- Neville Chamberlain was part of the Conservative Party and even though he resigned they still were able to select the replacement Prime Minister -- considered Lord Halifax, who withdrew his name from consideration. A compromise choice that would gain the support of the opposition was then put forth, Winston Churchill.  Churchill in fact had concluded that he would be the next Prime Minister.

After the decision, he went about putting together a War Cabinet of rivals, which included Neville Chamberlain and Lord Halifax. The movie then explores the various pressures that he went through over the course of a few weeks. Chamberlain and Halifax didn't agree with Churchill's desire to go to war with Germany and so went about being his political foils. He had to figure out a way to rescue British troops from Dunkirk. His military generals essentially provided no suggestions on how to do that. He had to rally the British people around the concept of fighting Hitler. And then there were other pressing issues that got minor moments in the movie, but were also just as important such as trying to convince the Americans to come to his rescue and dealing with personal financial short falls.

What I really love about the movie is how Churchill's characteristics are revealed throughout the movie via short conversations. For example, we learn that Churchill had a drinking problem via brief conversations such as when he had lunch with the king and the king asked why he drank in the middle of the day. I loved how the movie showed him as a wordsmith. There was a scene where he edits a speech right up to the last moment.

I always find it interesting how closely a biopic sticks to the facts. Slate does a rundown on fact vs. fiction.

And to conclude: this is my favorite Best Picture nomination of 2018.