Simply Perfect

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

I found The Gathering Storm to be an excellent historical drama, particularly with the leading characters of Winston Churchill and his wife Clementine ("Clemmie") played by Albert Finney and Vanessa Redgrave. How wonderful to have such accomplished actors whose performances give such vivid impressions of great characters from the past. Linus Roache gave a splendid performance as the Foreign Office official who puts principle above personal gain, with great risk to his own young family. Derek Jacobi is a great actor who continues to do excellent work. His Stanley Baldwin may not have been a lookalike for the prime minister who dominated so much of public life in the 1920's and 30's but I still found his performance impressive with a very moving scene where the two meet towards the end of the show. Actors Jim Broadbent, Hugh Bonneville, Ronnie Barker, Celia Imrie, Lena Headey and Tom Wilkinson give added depth to the movie. The domestic life of the Churchills at their Chartwell estate sheds light on the difficult relationship between Winston and Clemmie during Churchill's dark period in the 1930's when he felt like a voice in the wilderness against the tyranny of Germany and the threat it posed to Great Britain. Winnie had his dog days and Clemmie told him how much she realized he needed to get back into the fray so he didn't subject the whole household to his moods. Winston took this as a backhand vote of support. The love and affection they share for one another is palpable, despite the strains on the marriage. There is also a strong hint of an affair between Clemmie and another man when she leaves for a lengthy cruise. In any case, the couple reunite and Winston eventually achieves his goal of re-entering public life with her by his side. This is the kind of movie I could watch again and again and the cast is superb.

The Gathering Storm is one of the few films about one of the most incredible and interesting men in history, Winston Churchill. And to do that they picked probably the best man in Hollywood to do the job but I'll get to that. The Gathering Storm does not focus on Churchill's shining moments as Prime Minister during the worst world War the world has ever seen but rather the time leading up to that. We see Churchill's intense and often insulting personality, his romance and relationship with his wife, his money problems and the world around him before he became so famous in the world's eye. The only downside to The Gathering Storm is that I do believe the film could have turned into a major HBO epic and instead it clocks in at a rather measly 1 1/2 hours. We miss out on some major moments in Churchill's existence and the film is so well performed and created that you want so much more. At times the film is a little slow and certainly the entire film relies on star Albert Finney's performance.Albert Finney is just regal. He is an incredible actor and I have loved him since Annie where he was everyone's lovable brute Daddy Warbucks and I got to love him again as the reluctant but brilliant lawyer in Erin Brockovich. The idea of him playing Winston Churchill just fits!! He is perfect. Egotistical, powerful, maniacal at times, even slightly paranoid but nonetheless somehow charismatic beyond belief. Finney captures that essence and that isn't easy to do. He is so watchable which makes this film great. The story is good but it's not fantastic, in fact it's a little slow moving at times and drags it's feet a little but Finney is so charismatic and watchable that you don't even notice it. Vanessa Redgrave is the perfect addition to this cast and the even better partner to Finney's Churchill as Mrs. Clemmie Churchill. It takes a strong woman to live up to Churchill's overbearing personality and Redgrave captures that part of Clemmie's personality and is never overshadowed by Finney's performance. She does an incredible job. Linus Roache who has had some big roles as of recently in Batman Begins, The Forgotten and Chronicles of Riddick plays British Intelligence officer Ralph Wigram who risks everything to give Winston Churchill the real facts about Germany's growing army and risk to England. He plays an emotional and good role if not slightly small. The supporting cast is not to be ignored because they all do a great job, no one stands out as being worse or better than any one else. Unfortunately for them Finney and Redgrave are so powerful together and separately that they steal the show but then the film is truly about them so that is the way it should be.The Gathering Storm never tries to be about the war, Germany, politics, anything like that but rather about Winston Churchill PERIOD. His love for his wife, his poor behavior, his terrific moments, his bad moments, ups and downs, ego and modesty. In the hour and a half we see every side of the man and that is what the film is meant to do. Director Richard Loncraine, who more recently directed the terrific action film Firewall, does a great job of capturing the era. He gives us that sense of foreboding and worry that everyone had before Germany's invasion of Poland. He also captures Churchill's intense patriotism and love for his country. The setting is beautiful, 99% of the film takes place in Churchill's lavish home Chartwell but even that being the only major location it's breath taking and perfectly suited for the film and Churchill's struggle to regain power in government. Any history fan, Finney fan or someone who likes a good strong drama should check this one. It's a great little watch and you will crave for more. 8/10

"History lesson" movies is of the kind that rarely is any entertaining. But when Albert Finney and Vanessa Redgrave is impersonating Churchill and his wife Clemmie, what could be wrong? Sure, some of the dialogue is like taken out of a history book, where the characters is telling us key fact about Germany and England in the 30-s, but most of all this movie shows a moving picture of a marriage and a vulnerable Winston who is fighting for his career, his fortune and for respect in the parliament. This is not the triumphant man we are used to see in wartime movies, this is a man who is ridiculed and laugh at, and who still continues to dictate his speeches from the bathtub - never wanting to give in. Through help from an insider (Linus Roache, who also plays Batmans father in excellent "Batman Begins") in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, his credibility is growing. The only drawback here, is the rather subdued way this story about the insider is told: It is kind of hanging in the air, and the disaster is tastefully kept in the background somehow. But, after all, a very special movie that really could deserve to get to the screen.

I enjoyed this very much, although I had certain quibbles. Finney is excellent and you forget that you are watching an actor. It could be argued that he portrays Churchill as an older man than he actually was in the 1930's when he was in his early 60's. The Finney Churchill is more like the late-war Winston, approaching 70. Derek Jacobi is miscast as Baldwin, who was a much more avuncular character, at least in his public persona. He is also not physically bulky enough. Poor old Neville Chamberlain is airbrushed out altogether and the film skates straight over the 1938 Munich Crisis, the apogee of Appeasement and deprived Churchill of some of his best lines, e.g. 'We have suffered an unmitigated defeat. On the other hand Vanessa Redgrave was superb as Clemmie and when Churchill returned to the Admiralty in triumph I shed an unashamed tear.