The Story - 8/10
The story is essentially a character study of Winston Churchill and the trouble he had to go through in order to be Prime Minister and to lead his country through war time. While having to deal with backstabbing of Lord Halifax and Neville Chamberlain. Lots of people have viewed this as propaganda, but let me tell you this. If you just do a quick search, everything that it says under the 1940 War Cabinet crisis is in the film, Halifax and Chamberlain did try to naively achieve peace. Believing Hitler would agree. They tried to play dirty and this film shows it, in full. It isn't historically inaccurate.
But back to Churchill. Most of the events are told from his perspective. With cuts back and forth from Halifax/Chamberlain, Churchill's speech writer and even King George VI. Everything that transpires is essentially driven through Churchill's actions, which makes him a fantastic and active protagonist.
This makes this one of the best character studies that I have seen in a long time.
The characters - 8.5/10
Gary Oldman plays the (literal) big man himself, Winston Churchill. He is fantastic as per usual, despite the fact his face becomes a bit obvious even with the fat suit and makeup, it was not Gary Oldman, it was Winston Churchill. No one will do a better performance of Winston Churchill than this. The only gripe I have with his performance is the writing. Winston Churchill has a place in the hall of fame of legendary wit. He came up with some crackers, but this film tries to add as many as they possibly can. But many of them he didn't even say in 1940. But that's just a small gripe, when you hear them, you can't help but laugh and it does have to do with Oldman's performance. This performance also doesn't deify him, it shows that he isn't a paragon of a man. But a belligerent, drunk old man who is in need of a twelve step program.
Ronald Pickup plays Lord Neville Chamberlain and he plays Chamberlain as I would imagine him. I don't know as much about Chamberlain as I do Churchill, but from what I've seen, he is a man with weak resolve. He campaigned to make peace with Germany but then in the end sided with Churchill. But he did try to play dirty with Lord Halifax to bring Churchill down and get some peace with Germany. Pickup plays Chamberlain as a cunning, scheming bureaucrat and many people will find this vilifying. Trust me, it isn't.
Stephen Dillane plays Lord Halifax and I am ashamed to admit this, but I can't get the image of Stannis Baratheon out of my head. Throughout the whole thing I wasn't getting angry at Halifax and his sneaky ways, in my head I was associating this guy with Stannis. That is not necessarily a bad thing. You still feel the emotion that the director and (more than likely) Dillane's vision, so I believe they did a job well done.
The Drama - 8/10
As I said before, since this is a character study, the story is propelled by the choices and actions of Winston Churchill. It makes the pacing of the story feel natural and everything has a weight to it. Kind of like a butterfly effect, which is the kind of drama that people will love more. A story with consequences are the best stories. The tension that comes from the scenes are mostly amplified by Oldman's vocal mannerisms and the fights between the other members of parliament and the public. But speaking of the public, there was one scene that I found kind of perplexing. There is a scene when Churchill did something that he did, but I'm sure that it was done for the film's agenda. It happens toward the end of the film and I'm not entirely sure how I feel about that, I don't know if it works or doesn't.
Conclusion
In summation, this is a movie that is well worth your hard earned cash. It's riveting, engaging and such a time. You will get wrapped up in the drama, the performances and the writing.
I am giving this an 8/10
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