Michael's Movie Grade: A
Review: Incredibly moving and human portrait of one of the most important names in the history of World War 2.
What really makes this movie work is the respect and complexity this film treats its subject with. Much of this is due to Gary Oldman's incredible performance. While this is an actor many of us are quite familiar with, watching this movie I completely forgot that I was watching him on screen. I believed that I was watching Winston Churchill. When he gives one of his most famous speeches towards the end of the movie in particular, you could have almost convinced me I was watching real documented footage of Churchill giving this speech, that is how real this felt. This is not to say by any means though that the success of this movie was completely because of Oldman as there was much more to love about this movie. Anthony McCarten's script delivers a beautifully complex look into the turmoil Churchill was going through. Though with hindsight we know what the best thing for him to do is, during this movie you can almost forget that for a second as you get so caught up in the doubt the man is going through. This script is so finely written that we can picture ourselves in that situation having not the slightest idea what to do. Seeing this doubt and fear only makes us respect the man this film is about all the more.
This film is a must see for all history buffs and for many movie buffs as well.
-Michael J. Ruhland
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