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A former secretary joins the government's team of propaganda film makers in creating a morale-boosting movie about a heroic Dunkirk rescue mission.
Being a self-confessed sucker for war films, it was inevitable that I would find myself taking in a screening of Their Finest - a tale of a female screenwriter taking on a heroic story in the midst of bombed out London. It is with regret, therefore, that this addition to the World War archive that I found this film a little disappointing. With a promising central trio at the helm (Bill Nighy steals the show as the cantankerous ageing actor Hilliard), the film begins with promise. Peppering scenes of the Blitz with moments of humour, the film acts as a showcase of Great British talent, with walk-on, walk-off roles for Richard E. Grant, Eddie Marsan and Jeremy Irons providing intrigue for the first act. However, the script soon flounders...
It seems strange that a film about screenwriting should suffer from such a poor one itself. OK, maybe 'poor' is too strong a word, but there are certainly missteps within the script. For starters, in the final part of the film there are two 'twists' - one being obvious from the beginning, the other being so bizarre and out of character with the film that I spent the rest of the runtime perplexed as to what I had just seen. Instead of being shocked or left tearful at the revelation, I instead sat there mouth agog in utter confusion! From the murmurs of disbelief in the audience, I gather that I was not the only patron to feel thus. Prior to this, however, there are some truly clunky lines of dialogue interspersed with the humorous ones. Similarly, the tone of the film veers about so frequently that I was left befuddled as to what mood I should be in - at one moment we are enjoying a romantic comedy, the next characters have been blown up in the Blitz, and then we're back to Bill Nighy chewing the scenery. Maybe this is meant to be a reflection of the British spirit during the war years, but each scene sits so uneasily with its predecessor that it becomes almost jarring.
Not without charms, Their Finest wastes the acting chops of its leads in place of clunky dialogue, a strained love story and a series of twists so ludicrous they're almost laughable. Without the charisma of the three central actors, it is unlikely the film would be able to power towards the end at all. Despite this, however, it remains a heart-warming tale with a 'girl power' conclusion.
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