In the days leading up to the D-Day landing, Prime Minister Winston Churchill is desperate to get Operation Overlord shut down, as he fears it will lead to a disaster on the scale of Gallipolli.
Brian Cox plays Churchill in this dramatic reconstruction. The trouble is that it's not that dramatic, and it's not that accurate either, in that Churchill was not disposed to try to undermine his Chiefs of Staff in the run-up to D-Day. And as for the characterisation of Churchill is concerned - he was a man of many facets, but I doubt that interfering busybody with borderline senility was one of them.
All of which might not have mattered had there been enough in the film to hold your attention. But despite being set at one of the most dramatic moments in recent history, and despite some beautiful cinematography, this film is boring from start to finish. It appears to think it is important - it isn't - and it is packed full of lingering closeups, and leisurely focus-pulls and dissolves, all of which serve little purpose other than to make the thing longer.
Brian Cox plays Churchill in this dramatic reconstruction. The trouble is that it's not that dramatic, and it's not that accurate either, in that Churchill was not disposed to try to undermine his Chiefs of Staff in the run-up to D-Day. And as for the characterisation of Churchill is concerned - he was a man of many facets, but I doubt that interfering busybody with borderline senility was one of them.
All of which might not have mattered had there been enough in the film to hold your attention. But despite being set at one of the most dramatic moments in recent history, and despite some beautiful cinematography, this film is boring from start to finish. It appears to think it is important - it isn't - and it is packed full of lingering closeups, and leisurely focus-pulls and dissolves, all of which serve little purpose other than to make the thing longer.