Darkest Hour (2017, PG-13)

Another likely Oscar contender I’m crossing off my list early.  Most signs point to Darkest Hour not racking up a ton of nominations, but Gary Oldman’s performance as Winston Churchill is pretty much a lock for a Best Actor nod with a good chance of winning (playing a real-life famous person in a movie about WWII?  Come on now.)  It’s quite a serviceable, well-made biopic, although Oldman’s performance is decidedly the chiefest draw.

The film is a focused biopic rather than a general one, only covering about Churchill’s first month as Prime Minister – from David Lloyd George stepping down up until Dunkirk.  When the PM steps down, Churchill is a replacement choice not particularly prized by his party’s leadership, and in his early days in the role, many have doubts about his place there.  In particular, as the German war machine rolls across Europe, a number of Churchill’s colleagues are looking for ways to avoid war while Churchill himself seems ready to steer the country headlong into it.  The clash builds to a crescendo as British troops in France are stranded on the beaches of Dunkirk with the Nazis closing in on them.  The fate of British army, and Churchill’s position, hang in the balance; all depends on how Churchill deals with the crisis.

I know enough of my history to recognize Churchill’s image and bearing, enough to know that Oldman is terrific (as is the film’s makeup work – when I first saw a trailer for the film, I didn’t realize it was him in the role until I saw his name on the screen!)  As the famous PM, he’s irascible, wily, and clever, expecting everyone to fall in line with his idiosyncrasies and not bending to pressure from dissenting voices in his war cabinet.  Even though we’re only looking at a tiny sliver of his life, it’s one packed with conflict and upheaval, so Oldman is given ample opportunity to show many sides of Churchill:  cantankerous, muddling, exacting, sly, drunk, stirring, despairing, determined, romantic, uncertain, and ingratiating, all as the mood strikes or the situation calls for.

I know also enough of the basics of Dunkirk to know how that story shakes out, although I didn’t know the specifics of Churchill’s role within that or the power struggles going on within his cabinet leading up to it.  In general, I think the film does a pretty good job of making that history accessible to the uninitiated while still trusting that we don’t need our hand held to keep track of what’s going on.

Oldman’s is the big money performance, but there are a number of other actors in the film doing fine work.  The film features Kristin Scott Thomas, Lily James (it took me forever to place her with dark hair – even though I knew none of them were right, my brain jumped to Keira Knightley, Felicity Jones, and Daisy Ridley before I came around to her,) Stephan Dillane (Stannis from Game of Thrones,) and Samuel West (who I’ll always remember as the adult Caspian from the old Voyage of the Dawn Treader on PBS.)  Special mention goes to Ben Mendelsohn (Krennic from Rogue One) as King George VI; after Colin Firth’s fantastic work in The King’s Speech, that has to be a tough role to take on, but Mendelsohn does a great job with it, and his scenes with Oldman are some of my favorites in the film.

Warnings

Language, drinking/smoking, a little implied nudity, and war violence.

State of Grace (1990, R)

 

Talking about my favorite Gary Oldman roles last week reminded me how much I like this movie.  I’m not big into the mobster genre in general, but I like this one.  It’s a strong character story (it reminds me of Infernal Affairs in that way) with intriguing internal and external conflicts and some excellent acting.

 

The film opens on Terry Noonan, recently returned to Hell’s Kitchen after a twelve-year absence.  Some around the old neighborhood remain the same:  his best friend Jackie, up to his eyeballs in organized crime, approaches his shady activities with playful verve.  Others have changed:  the old power structure is gone, and Jackie’s older brother Frankie is now running the show.  Still others are alike and different at the same time:  Jackie’s sister Kathleen has moved uptown and is trying to put her old life behind her, but she’s just as drawn to Terry as she ever was.  And as for Terry, to what extent is he the same or different?

 

You’ll notice my synopsis dwells on the characters, and that’s where the movie best excels.  It explores a number different personalities forged in the crucible of the Kitchen and examines how the crime that surrounds them all affects them and the relationships between them.  Frankie, attempting to forge an alliance between his own Irish boys and the Italians down the street, is determined to prove his gang the equal of the richer, more established family.  Jackie is equal parts recklessness, jocundity, hair-trigger temper, and affection, and he doesn’t know how to reconcile that his brother is now his boss.  Kathleen pulls away from her family while simultaneously worrying for their safety and well-being.  And Terry, in the middle of it all, is pulled by old and new desires, old and new loyalties.

 

I like that the main mobsters we see here are Irish.  It’s a bit less typical, messier and grittier than the usual mob stereotypes that juxtapose violence and luxury.  Someone like Jackie thinks his illegal extracurriculars are doing right by his neighbors; by torching a gentrified building, for instance, he’s keeping the yuppie scum from moving in and taking over.  The Irish-Italian interaction is interesting, too.  Loyalty and enmity runs deep here on both sides – strangers are trusted or threatened depending on their last name, and to the Irish boys, “pizza” and “spaghetti” are dirty words.

 

I singled out Gary Oldman in my earlier post, and I’ll single him out again here.  His Jackie is a can’t-take-your-eyes-off-him character, explosive, engaging, and surprisingly sensitive.  However, the acting is great all around, and several fine actors – all of whom look stunningly young here – deserve kudos for how well they handle the complexities of these characters.  Sean Penn plays Terry’s internal tug-of-war to perfection, and as Kathleen, Robin Wright (Princess Buttercup!) likewise brings pathos to her conflict between worlds.  Ed Harris (I’ll always think of him as Christophe from The Truman Show) is alternately hot and cold as Frankie, and both sides are terrific. 

 

Warnings

 

Lots of violence (including gun fights and death,) swearing, sexual content (including sex scenes and partial nudity,) drinking, and smoking.

Top Five Roles: Gary Oldman

Anyone who read my Capaldi Fall posts or who’s currently enjoying Buster Mondays has probably noticed that I like working my way through filmographies.  Though there aren’t many actors whose complete work (or even complete readily-accessible work) I’ve seen, there are plenty from whom I’ve seen a lot.  I got into Gary Oldman back in college (I rented DVDs from Blockbuster the store, not even online – the millennial Dark Ages,) and of all the projects I watched then and since, these are the ones I like best.  (Not necessarily the ones that I think objectively are the best, but the five that are the most up my alley.)

 

Sirius Black, Harry Potter

 

These are the films that first made me take notice of Oldman.  It’s true that he was far too old for the role (casting Alan Rickman as Snape necessitated aging up everyone in that generation) and his part often got the short shrift in the films, but he’s really excellent in them.  I love the haunted quality he has in The Prisoner of Azkaban, and Sirius’s connection with Harry throughout the series is just spot on.  

 

 

Rosencrantz, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead

 

…And here’s the film that made Oldman one of “my” actors.  I adore Rosencrantz so much.  I love that he’s played, not as dumb, but as artless and overwhelmed.  His almost childlike curiosity is endearing, and even though he often defers to Guildenstern as the thinker of the pair, he’s not content to be the yes-man all the time.  And the “dead in a box” speech?  Made.  Of.  WIN!

 

 

Emmett Foley, Chattahoochee

 

Some might call Chattahoochee a poor man’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and it’s not an entirely unfair assessment, but Oldman is sublime in it.  Emmett, a Korean War vet with PTSD placed in a horrifically subpar mental institution, is an immensely rootable protagonist.  His pain is searing, his fight for dignity for himself and his fellow patients is admirable, and as his stay in Chattahoochee grows longer and longer, his perseverance is incredible.

 

 

Sid Vicious, Sid and Nancy

 

Sure, playing an anarchic, drug-addled rock star is a bit showboat-y.  Believe me, though, when I say Oldman earns every second of it.  It’s an exciting, very early role for him, and his fascinating performance as the Sex Pistols bassist is by turns kinetic, immature, brash, heartfelt, and gritty.

 

 

Jackie Flannery, State of Grace

 

Oldman is pitch perfect as a mercurial mobster in this mob/cop saga.  The younger brother of a Hell’s Kitchen gang leader, Jackie is the kind of supporting role that up-and-coming actors (like Oldman was at the time) kill for.  He’s tons of fun, but he also has some pretty dark edges and his moments of anguish are painfully genuine.  Terrific all the way through.