This new biopic on one of the 20th Century’s most famous political leaders is a re-imagining of the few days leading up to Operation Overload which the Allied High Command were preparing to launch in June 1944 to finally get a foothold back in Europe to hasten the end of the War. Churchill (Brian Cox) the enigmatic British Prime Minister was beginning to really feel the strain of leading the country’s war efforts for the past 5 years, and he is depicted in the movie as seeming much older than his 69 years, and is entrenched in his own firmly held beliefs and was now out of step with the Military hierarchy actually running the war.
At a meeting with the American General Eisenhower the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces (John Slattery) and the British Field Marshall Montgomery (Julian Wadham) along with the King of England (James Purefoy), ostensibly to approve the final invasion plans of Operation Overload, Churchill shocks them all by loudly decrying the whole plan. He claims that not only is it doomed for failure, but the predicted casualties of the loss of several hundred thousands of men is far too great a price to pay for any victory.
Dumbfounded by this last-minute denunciation of a plan that has been worked on for almost a whole year at a very high level, Eisenhower supported by the top British Military Brass, ignores Churchill and gives the order to proceed anywhere. This seems to totally unhinges the great man, and back at his Office No 10 Downing Street he throws rather outrageous temper tantrums at anyone and everyone. The only person who is able to call him out on them is his long-suffering wife Clementine (a rather wonderful Miranda Richardson) who vacillates between scolding him, and then covering for him and his staff, or simply being his biggest supporter.
The great man is obviously a exceptional genius who somehow always rises to the occasion when it comes to matters of State like addressing the nation, which he does with a wonderful inspired piece of oratory that will go down in the annals of history. In fact one of the traps that this movie falls into is that the part of the script that uses the official record of Churchill’s famed prose is in sharp contrast to the rest which is the work of newbie writer Alex von Tunzelmann. He does however give Cox some set showy pieces that gives the actor ample opportunity to portray Churchill as a blustering large-than-life caricature in a manner that Award givers love. The trouble is that the script also gives Churchill’s young frightened secretary (Ella Purnell), and his wife some rather embarrassingly lame speeches which do not sit well at all, and make this more into a melodrama than witnessing a great moment in the world’s history.
Operation Overload was a major success and did, as Eisenhower predicted, hasten the end of the war which finished with the Germans surrender one year later. Despite his reluctance to endorse the action behind closed doors, Churchill was still nevertheless publicly credited with its success, although his main reward was to lose the the Premiership immediately after the War ended when he was voted out of office.
The timing of the release of the movie directed by Jonathan Teplitzky will no doubt help propel its success, for in today’s uncertain political climate when there is a justified fear of the world lurching sharply to the Right, then being reminded of one the men who was responsible for so much of our freedom is a wonderful jolt to help us reminisce so fondly about the past.
