Hungry, Hungry Gary Oldman. Images courtesy Focus Features.
3/10 Set in World War II and marketed on the strength of a respected star with an empty mantel, Darkest Hour is exactly the kind of movie that’s going extinct as the Academy focuses more on social justice and diversity and its Greatest Generation holdovers start to die out.
Thank everything that’s holy for that.
Darkest Hour relates the first month of prime minister Winston Churchill’s (Gary Oldman) government, formed as the British were being beaten out of France by Nazi Germany in the spring of 1940. Churchill came to power replacing Conservative Party leader Neville Chamberlain (Ronald Pickup), who was ousted for his handling of the war, as an equally unpopular compromise from both the conservative and labour parties. In the film, Chamberlain and foreign secretary Viscount Halifax (Stephen Dillane), Chamberlain’s first choice for the position, conspire to undermine Churchill and make peace with the Nazis, which amplifies Churchill’s silent uncertainty that Germany can be beaten. The tensions culminate into the Miracle of Dunkirk, which you might have heard of elsewhere.
