5/31/2022

I'm struggling to comprehend why the reviews for this biopic of Churchill are so polarised. Certainly Churchill had an history before either World War as a bit of an honest-to-goodness Imperialist; and like it or not these attitudes and patterns of behaviour (drinking; sulking; pomposity; rousing speechmaking etc.) all contributed to the man who was essential to the survival of Britain from the end of 1940. This portrayal does depict, albeit somewhat theatrically, the decline of his influence as the tide of the war began to change in the allies favour much as Britain's influence as a global world power was also on the wane. It's a drama - with good efforts from Miranda Richardson and Richard Durden (as the ever patient Gen. Jan Smuts) not an history lesson. Creative licence describing him and his flawed but dynamic personality was essential if we were ever to get anything like a sense of who he really was. If it's a documentary that's required - then you'll struggle to improve on Lucy Carter's "Churchill" from 2003.