Winston Churchill is one of the most recognizable and influential figures in the20th century--in the history of England even. He was one of the few men whose genius was too great for those around him to accept, as his personality engulfed those around him and made them nervous. He was a master of words, had a razor sharp wit, the mind of a soldier and the mind of a child, was megalomaniacal, manic depressive, and the most ardent British patriot of his time. His life was filled to the brim with amazing stories because he believed from a very young age that he was destined for greatness. He saw his future and he took it.
Brendan Gleeson plays the statesman beginning from the day he became the Prime Minister and Hitler invaded Western Europe, to the end of the next election after the conclusion of the war. The narrative jumps back and forth between the war and the day of the election results to give (what I might guess) a "shock" to the viewer when they find that he does not win a second election. How could the most important man in Western Europe not get voted for again? He had just masterfully steered Britian through the most tumultuous period her history, and he was rewarded with "The Boot." Into the Storm's point of view is clear. They show the best of Churchill and give the public a slap on the wrist for missing out on more time with the greatest Prime Minister that England has ever known.
This is a made for television film, and a continuation of The Gathering Storm, starring Albert Finney. I kept having to remind myself of that to try and give a little bit of slack when watching this, but the beginning and the end of it is that I just was not impressed by this movie. Winston Churchill is my hero so perhaps I hold too high of expectations for a wartime biopic about him, but I'm pretty sure that some of issues with this movie are qualified. Gleeson did and okay job; I would give him a B-. They cast an actor far too young to play a 70 year old man, but Gleeson is a great actor who I have enjoyed in a great many films, and there is a definite resemblance between he and the rotund bulldog. My problem, though, is that Gleeson did not find the great many shades of Churchill. The man was fantastically funny, but for the first half of the film Gleeson made him somber, morose, and unlikable. Churchill was known far and wide his personality that was as big as his pant size, but all that I saw was a moody politician.
The script did began to loosen up towards the second half, as did his acting, but it still was not the Churchill that I should like to have seen. This story does not really talk so much about political maneuvers or show intense fighting sequences. There is some, yes, but mostly it is about the statesmanship that he employed back at 10 Downing Street. Through much of it we see him painting, or choosing the perfect word for his next speech while his secretary scrambled desperately to copy down all of his dictation. The movie did a great job of adding lots of small factoids about the man that only those that know a considerable amount about him would know. Yes there was the immense hat collection and the cigar, but there was also the mention of his estate, Chartwell, his silk pajamas that he had to wear because his skin was so sensitive, the fact that he had only taken the underground once in his life, his necessary afternoon nap. They even added the hilarious moment when FDR accidentally catches him in the nude, though they changed the punchline (which irritated me to no end). Great tidbits like these should have led to a more developed character than what was delivered.
Clementine, his wife, was played by Janet McTeer, and I thought she was just awful. What I know about the Churchill's is that throughout their marriage, even though Winston was a difficult husband, those two were very much in love with one another, and would be until their dying days. This movie showed none of that. The two were at each other's throats, showed no affection, and Clemmie was written a lot more stupidly that I know she was. At the end of the movie we see that their marriage will be all right in the end, and although I know that to be true I did not believe it for two seconds. The film did not let me believe it, and that made me sad.
What I did like about this film was the inclusion of so much original text from Churchill himself. The screenwriter did take some liberties with that dialogue, but I recognized much of the language from Churchill's speeches and noted quotes. How could you not include some of his work, though? The man was a master of the English language, and no twopence writer in London could ever beat him, so why try? Hearing his words spoken aloud with the gravity that director gave was very powerful and I enjoyed it immensely.
Bottom line: I would have done it better.
2/4
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