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Searched high and low for a thread on this subject and came up empty. Since the useless search functions never work for me, I decided to start this myself.
Anyways, I watched this film tonight, and much can be said about it, which I will later. Needless to say, Gary Oldman is the single reason to watch this, and sadly not much more. Practically every scene could serve as his Oscar clips. “Dunkirk” weighs heavily over “Darkest Hour” cinematically though, so it will be interesting to see how Academy voters acknowledge and embrace each film.
Many users should start seeing this film since it’s wide now.
Discuss.
ReplyI saw this about a week ago, and it’s by far my least favorite Joe Wright film. Sure, the production design is gorgeous, the costumes are great, and the score is good (Dario Marianelli continues to compose beautiful music), unfortunately, that’s about it. I don’t mind a slow film (especially if it pays off in the end), but in this instance, I felt like I was in the theater for a full day by the time I got out of my seat.
Supporting actors, such as Mendelsohn, Scott Thomas, and James do a good job with what they’re given, but this is obviously Gary Oldman’s film, content and all. While watching, I was expecting THE scene that was going to show why he’s being considered frontrunner, but the problem is, the film is filled with them. It drove me crazy at times because it screams Oscar bait (or as a critic said, “it plays out like a procession of award-show clips”). Overall, I don’t hate the performance, but I don’t love it either.
If anything, I’ve become increasingly disappointed in the Academy for not awarding him when they should’ve: in 2012 over Dujardin.
Personally, I wouldn’t be upset if Oldman won, because in the end you can tell he and everyone involved (especially the makeup artists, who are definitely winning Hair and Makeup) worked really hard, but I don’t think this is the winning performance. The deserving one, anyway.
Overall Grade: C+
ReplyCopy URLI just saw this and it was pure Oscar bait. AND I LOVED IT. Totally enrapturing from the get-go and Oldman wipes the floor with any other acting contenders this year (excluding perhaps Chalamet). It’s the ultimate transformation and surprisingly to me was far from just a make-up job. The cast around him also should have totally been nominated for SAG ensemble- Mendelson, Dillane, James (first time she’s ever not been vanilla), Scott Thomas, Pickup are all perfectly cast. I had real concerns going in that the whole film would be a series of speeches that would get uninteresting over the course but I could not have been more wrong, this owned its baity nature in every sense of the word and became an incredibly dynamic tale. I know I’m in the minority with this on this site but I’d nominate it for Best Picture in a heartbeat. Only Dunkirk and CMBYN have been better.
ReplyCopy URLWhile the film itself is kind of ho-hum, Oldman is sublime and richly deserving of that inevitable Oscar win.
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ReplyCopy URLI barely remember it, having seen it six weeks ago. Was the score good? Oldman was better than I expected and not hammy like John Lithgow. At the same time, I would have liked more charisma to explain better why anyone put up with this crotchety old mumbler. Subtitles would have been appreciated. Ben Mendelsohn was very good with limited material and he remains in my predictions; Stephen Dillane confused me by employing the same lisp. Does Lily James have the most screen time after Oldman?
ReplyCopy URL"I don't even believe in god, but I'm going to thank her tonight."
I was just telling my mom that I couldn’t care less about Gary Oldman being a Republican and that I still am not 100% sure about the allegations against him. The more I read, the more skeptical I’ve become if them. All of his kids are still on his side. I’m not saying he didn’t do those things. It just doesn’t strike me as “open and shut he did it” like with James Franco, where the more I read of him the more sure I am he is guilty of the allegations.
As for Darkest Hour, I liked it a lot more than I thought I would, but not enough to recommend it on a casual basis or to anyone who isn’t a Gary Oldman fan. This movie reminded me of “All The Way,” the Emmy bait biopic of LBJ starring Bryan Cranston as the former President. The impressive production quality, the solid script, and that hammy over-the-top lead performance as the world leader facing difficult choices in tension-filled times.
My favorite scene in the film by far was where King George was talking with Churchill towards the end of the movie, and Churchill was feeling defeated, saying how he would be open to negotiations with Nazi Germany. I loved how King George snapped him out of it by telling him that no man was more scared when he became Prime Minister than Hitler himself, and tells Churchill he would support him if he continued the war. Oldman’a rare moment of vulnerability combined with Mendelsohn’s intensity made for one hell of a great scene. I wish the rest of the film could have felt as raw and realistic.
If Oldman wins the Oscar, I will have a hard time complaining, even though I still stand by my conviction that they can do so much better this year, with truly stellar work from the likes of Hugh Jackman, James Mcavoy, and I would even argue in favor of Robert Pattinson in the underrated Good Time.
ReplyCopy URLFor your Goldderby Film Awards consideration: Isle of Dogs for every category, especially Music Score for Alexandre Desplat!
I barely remember it, having seen it six weeks ago. Was the score good? Oldman was better than I expected and not hammy like John Lithgow. At the same time, I would have liked more charisma to explain better why anyone put up with this crotchety old mumbler. Subtitles would have been appreciated. Ben Mendelsohn was very good with limited material and he remains in my predictions; Stephen Dillane confused me by employing the same lisp. Does Lily James have the most screen time after Oldman?
I barely remember Lily James. I don’t think she had the most screen time after Oldman, though I could be mistaken. Mendelsohn couldn’t even make the cut with Bafta, where Darkest Hour got 9 nominations. He isn’t getting in. Both Darkest Hour and especially Dunkirk could have used subtitles IMO. I preferred Darkest Hour as a story to The Crown, though Lithgow was the superior and actually less hammy Churchill in my book, but we can totally disagree on that one, and that’s fine. The score was actually one of my favorite parts of the movie. Rousing, powerful, and intense, completely appropriate for a biopic of a man who was all those things.
ReplyCopy URLFor your Goldderby Film Awards consideration: Isle of Dogs for every category, especially Music Score for Alexandre Desplat!
I barely remember it, having seen it six weeks ago. Was the score good? Oldman was better than I expected and not hammy like John Lithgow. At the same time, I would have liked more charisma to explain better why anyone put up with this crotchety old mumbler. Subtitles would have been appreciated. Ben Mendelsohn was very good with limited material and he remains in my predictions; Stephen Dillane confused me by employing the same lisp. Does Lily James have the most screen time after Oldman?
I liked the score and it worked well with the style of the movie but I wouldn’t say it was better than Marianelli’s work in Atonement, more like Anna Karenina where it fit in but you didn’t leave thinking about it. Interesting that you would have wanted subtitles- did you watch a screener because at the screening I went to it was pretty clear what he was saying? Lily James easily had the most screentime after Oldman, in fact for the first half an hour I started wondering whether she was co-lead, she wasn’t but she did end up with one of the only other truly significant arcs in the film.
ReplyCopy URLFinally premiered in my country this week so managed to see it today. The cinematography and the production design are notably good, the script is nothing special as discussed earlier. I think KST will get that coattail nomination, she has more screentime than I imagined from the comments here. Oldman is amazing, at this point that goes without saying.
ReplyCopy URLNow it’s starting. #TimesUp!
https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5a674f88e4b002283006d5b1
ReplyCopy URLNow it’s starting. #TimesUp!
What they neglect to mention though is that Oldman got full custody of his children from that divorce. Places more than reasonable doubt as to whether her filed papers were the truth as no judge would give sole custody to a man who could potentially be a domestic abuser. I’m not saying Oldman is squeaky clean (in fact I’m fairly sure given his history of drinking he was probably quite a vile man in both his 2nd and 3rd marriages), just that on every case such as this we mustn’t jump to conclusions just to take down another person. Times Up will be damaged if we start to cast light in the wrong places.
ReplyCopy URLAtypical wrote:
Now it’s starting. #TimesUp! https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5a674f88e4b002283006d5b1What they neglect to mention though is that Oldman got full custody of his children from that divorce. Places more than reasonable doubt as to whether her filed papers were the truth as no judge would give sole custody to a man who could potentially be a domestic abuser.I’m not saying Oldman is squeaky clean (in fact I’m fairly sure given his history of drinking he was probably quite a vile man in both his 2nd and 3rd marriages), just that on every case such as this we mustn’t jump to conclusions just to take down another person. Times Up will be damaged if we start to cast light in the wrong places.
What an incredible and totally unverifiable statement. Plenty of men have bought themselves legal verdicts. Besides, even if you don’t buy the possibility of a wealthy, famous movie star being able to assault his addict wife with no consequences, it doesn’t excuse his bigotry or noted antisemitism.
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