Inclubabu
Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.
Contentar
Best movie of this year hands down!
Glucedee
It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.
Leoni Haney
Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.
Michael Ledo
In the summer of 1953 Churchill (Michael Gambon) suffered a stroke. With Anthony Eden (Alex Jennings) in the US having a gall bladder operation (outpatient surgery today) it was decided to hide his ailment from the press, the world , and the opposition party. The film also looks at Millie Appleyard (Romola Garai) a fictional nurse who has headed to Australia with her fiance to "put his dreams before mine." The dry martini family is called home and their bickering continue.The performances were outstanding. The theme of the film was to show us how the dreams and aspirations of great people affect the lives of everyone around them. As stated, "There is a price to pay for greatness, but the great seldom pay it." We see the price his family had to pay, and "the rock" his wife had to be to stand by his side, realizing that it was all about him.The fictional and slightly anachronistic nurse, a woman who (plot spoiler) follows her own dreams was placed there as an alternative to living your life for your own dreams instead of your spouse as Lady Churchill (Lindsay Duncan) gallantly did.
godfreygordon
Settling down for a nostalgic immersion in a post war period drama, with a martini in my hand, I was surprised to be nodding off after ten minutes or so. I now realize the potential of this movie as a sleeping pill and intend to keep it in the drug cabinet. I have recently watched too many of Michael Gambon's performances slide into apparent mordancy with dismay. A bad double episode of Downton without Maggie Smith is one way to describe this tedious rubbish. There was so much dramatic potential in the story which was routinely squandered, presumably in order to dumb it down for a broader audience. I would have thought that a two hour monologue by the late Les Dawson about his piles would have been more entertaining. Do something else. Don't waste an evening on this.
Jackson Booth-Millard
I mainly know about the former British Prime Minister focused in this TV made film through his work during World War II, and the "V for Victory" sign, so I was interested to see a dramatisation of his later years, directed by Charles Sturridge (FairyTale: A True Story, Lassie). Basically set in June 1953, it has been two years since Sir Winston Churchill (Sir Michael Gambon) has been elected Prime Minister for the second time. Winston and his wife Clemeintine 'Clemmie' (About Time's Lindsay Duncan) are hosting a dinner party at Downing Street, when during his speech he starts slurring, and he eventually collapses. Winston's doctor Lord Moran (Bill Paterson) diagnoses him as having a serious stroke, there are fears he may not survive, he is taken to his country home Chartwell for treatment and recovery, but his illness is kept under wraps. Publicly it is said that Winston is suffering exhaustion, the newspaper owners consent to printing this deception, meanwhile Winston's children arrive to watch over him, Winston's son Randolph (The Three Musketeers' Matthew Macfadyen) is drinking and causes feuds, Winston's daughter Sarah (Detectorist's Rachael Stirling) is struggling with her film career, and Clemmie is reflecting on the loss of their infant daughter. The Cabinet is informed of the events concerning Winston and his health, Lord Moran sends plain-spoken Yorkshire nurse Millie Appleyard (Romola Garai) to look after the great man. With the help of Millie and the devotion of his wife, Churchill survives and recovers to address the Conservative party conference later in the year. Winston Churchill retired two years later, and the country was unaware of Churchill's secret until long after his death on 24th January 1965. Also starring The Elephant Man's John Standing as Lord Camrose, Downton Abbey's Daisy Lewis as Mary Churchill, Matilda Sturridge as Rosie Hopper, Me and Orson Welles' Christian McKay as Christopher Soames, Brassed Off's Tara Fitzgerald as Diana Churchill and The Queen's Alex Jennings as Anthony Eden. Gambon gives a great performance as the well-respected British statesman who suffered a terrible illness that was never known about, and many of the supporting cast members get their moments, I certainly had no idea of this hidden event of history, this is well written, and you are drawn in to see how the great man and his family suffered, a most worthwhile drama. Very good!
Tom Dooley
This 100 minute long film was made for UK TV and stars the incomparable Michael Gambon as Churchill. It is 1953 and he has just suffered a second stroke. Proving that spin was alive and well even back then, the powers that be and the Tory party wanted to keep the truth hidden. So he is whisked off to his ancestral home to recover.The film is based around the nurse who was drafted in to care for him – this is Ramola Garai ('Suffragette') who plays Millie Appleyard and she is both convincing and a lovely on screen presence. The drama unfolds around the International situation and the warming up of 'the Cold War' and domestic policies as well as the far too cosy a relationship Churchill had with the Newspaper moguls.So is it any good? Well with a coterie of great actors it was always hard to make this fail. Lindsay Duncan plays Clemmie Churchill and is – as always- excellent. The massively talented Bill Patterson plays Lord Moran and we have 'Ripper Street's own Mathew Macfadyen playing Randolph Churchill at his swaggering best. The drama was never going to be edge of seat stuff but the performances are all solid enough to hold your attention. I actually really enjoyed it even though it could have been better, but I was hooked for the full run – recommended.