Their Finest (2017)

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Fantastic!

A lot of fun.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Catrin Cole comes to London with her artist husband during the Blitz, and takes a job writing "slop" (dialogue for female characters) in films put out by the War Dept. This morphs into screenwriting an inspirational movie about the role of women in the Dunkirk evacuation. But personal relationships raise complications...This movie successfully weaves together elements of romance, drama, comedy, feminism, war, and the British class system (among others) in telling Mrs Cole's story. In doing so, it throws in two story twists, one of them major. They don't exactly turn the story on its head, but they do mean it doesn't follow the course one expects.Gemma Arterton is good as Mrs Cole, and Sam Claflin pleases as her boss. But everyone will love Bill Nighy as egotistical Actor Ambrose.I feared that this would be a feminist tract, but that particular message is sold subtly: it's there, but the film doesn't beat you over the head with it. And you are engaged by the characters, so the message is welcomed.I enjoyed this, and so did the rest of the audience, all of whom were over 60.

This tragicomedy contains things to like, such as a sensitive and careful reconstruction of everyday life during wartime. There are also flashes of wit and insight to savour. But it is unclear what, if anything, the movie hopes to say or teach or achieve. Does it want to tell us that life is short and war is cruel ? That movies, especially propaganda movies, tend to embellish and embroider ? That the making of movies, especially propaganda movies, is a demanding and capricious business ? But surely we knew all that ?Another of the movie's themes concerns the shifting role and work division between men and women. But again, there have been other, earlier movies that treated the same subject. Besides, it's difficult to pick up a school book on modern Western society that doesn't mention this transformation.The biggest disappointment, for me, came from the scenes where the viewer (finally !) gets to see the propaganda movie about the Dunkirk evacuation. You expect something grand, something sweeping, something stunning - or, who knows, perhaps something cheesy or chaotic beyond belief. Instead you are rewarded with a few glimpses of what seems like a nicely crafted but unremarkable work. It's underwhelming, especially for a sweeping epic that was supposed to rouse the USA to full-throated fury. Was this the movie that launched a thousand ships and burnt the topless towers of Ilium? No, mate, it wasn't.

Great acting. Top drawer writing. First rate director. All the best movie craftsmanship.London during The Blitz after Dunkirk where the women and a few available men are left to tell a story of resistance, heroism, determination and hope. "Their Finest" gives you the feel of how London was in late 1941 and '42 through the individual lives of people thrown into jobs that desperately needed doing. The people are displaced Jews from Europe, an insecure girl from Wales, aging actors, hack writers, undraftable men, all fish out of water figuring out what needed to be done then doing it. Death, love, laughter, betrayal, luck, embarrassment, stupidity, genius all in a fast paced story of World War II.Three things to note. One, Some of the dialogue is tricky to follow because it is in a variety of English accents. You can't really tune your ear to one group of accents. Two, what passes for sexual tension in this movie is very understated by US standards. What they think of as electricity and chemistry between characters is low wattage and barely combustible. They are very charming however. Three, the humor can be understated as well. You need to keep an eye on the actors faces at times to see the humor. Again charming, but more subtle than US audiences are used to.

I do not know if they tried to do something else. I do not think so. But at least they have managed to make a movie that you see with affection. Gema appears and fills the screen and you follow her to see what happens to her, although you know perfectly how it will end, but the film is credible and that is not all.He takes many things as a caricature and makes them as such but he does them well.The three protagonist actors are great, but the others are also very good. Is that even those who have to fall ill, you like. That is difficult to achieve and get the viewer in your pocket.Costumes, makeup and art are splendid. They manage to get you into that historical moment.Photography is very good, it's very English and that's good. There are moments that bring a lot of light, but at least they are few.The address, although it does not make plans that look nice to me. But at least, it takes the movie well, it does not bore you and it puts you in your pocket. Get you watch the movie and follow it to the end.It's a movie to see the