Darkest Hour

Yesterday I saw Darkest Hour, starring Gary Oldman and Lily James.

The film chronicles the time that Winston Churchill (Oldman) rose to power in Great Britain and chose to fight the Nazis instead of attempting a peace agreement with them.

For those who know history, the ending will serve as no surprise, but how Britain got there might. Many, including me, didn't know that there was ever serious thought given to a peace treaty with Hitler or that Churchill faced such brutal opposition from his own team for his resolve against Germany.

So, how exciting is that to watch? More exciting than you may expect, because suspense builds even if you know the outcome. And the raves about Oldman's portrayal of the great leader are not at all exaggerated—he inhabits him in a scary-authentic way. From his mannerisms to his intonation, someone we know as a slender, handsome man, becomes the pudgy, quick-tempered, quirky prime minister before our eyes. The performance is Oscar bait, for sure.

Also great is Lily James as Churchill's secretary Elizabeth. She is wounded when he's hard on her and hopeful when she sees him doing the right thing. Though her words are few, her expressions tell us everything we need to know. A perfect example of how women were treated in the era and how "the job" was perceived to be more important than standing up for themselves or expressing their opinions.

Darkest Hour is a satisfying, if not fast-paced, glimpse into a period of history we can't seem to stop re-visiting. See it for Oldman's performance, if nothing else.

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Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

This morning I saw Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, starring Gary Oldman and Colin Firth.

That's the last time I'll see a film without reading the source material first.

It's the Cold War—early '70s. George Smiley (Oldman) is a recently retired British spy brought in to investigate a possible Russian mole. Ricki Tarr (Tom Hardy) is the rebel spy, in love with the wife of a Russian operative, convinced of the mole. Bill Haydon (Firth) may or may not be the mole. Roy Bland (Ciaran Hinds) may or may not be the mole. Percy Alleline (Toby Jones) may or may not be the mole.

And... they lost me!

This isn't a typical spy film that features people hanging from buildings or being tortured in heart-stopping, tense scenes. It's a moody, quiet interpretation of what real spy stuff is probably really like. And let's face it, a bit of that is undoubtedly boring.

Amidst the endless conversations and glimpses of what goes down are beautifully framed shots of a soggy London in the past. Once I had completely lost track of the story, I found myself focusing on how lovely the cinematography was and how many expressions Goldman could muster without ever getting excited.

It's really too bad, because fans of the BBC version of the story and the original book seem to be loving the hell out of this.

I can safely say I did not, but that doesn't mean the acting was bad or there weren't clever bits of dialog that woke me up from time to time.

It just wasn't for me—at least not without knowing the story and characters in advance to be able to follow along coherently.

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