Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

Cooktopi The acting in this movie is really good.

Isbel A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Dee Mou The cast for this film was amazing. It's hard to have a declared spoiler as we generally know how the story ends from the history books. The movie allows a little glimpse into the internal family conflicts of the most famous Prime Minister in British history. I'll say that not enough explanation is given regarding concerns for Eden, who is barely visible in the film though he was arguably a major rival for the PM and trying to trip up the aging Churchill to make a name for himself. There's another movie that treats this aspect of Churchill's life more thoroughly. This film is more homey.

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!

jc-osms Having recently read biographies of Rab Butler, Harold MacMillan and Anthony Eden, I had a degree of foreknowledge about the events depicted in this ITV drama. Did I then or now think it warranted a two hour drama, well, no I didn't and having watched it, I think so even less. I looked forward to a behind-the-scenes insight into the political machinations of the time, which saw the news of the P.M.'s stroke blacked out by the media while he made a slow recovery from his illness. In the wings was his long-time second-in-command, Anthony Eden, itching to get into number 10, but, by an unfortunate coincidence, he was also also a recovering invalid from a botched operation carried out abroad.All I got here though was about two thirds of the time devoted to the Churchill family dynamics as three very different daughters and one hard-drinking son converge on the Churchill country house in Chartwell, with the other third dealing more with the politics culminating in Churchill recovering sufficiently to deliver his party leader speech at the Conservative Party Conference at Margate in 1953. I found the inter-family drama to be boring and uninteresting. The very obvious point is made that Churchill's personality dominated those of his wife and children as they unattractively find ways to bicker amongst themselves even as their father fights death in the same house. As for the political background, Rab Butler is dismissed as a non-entity, Anthony Eden appears only fleetingly and Harold MacMillan doesn't show at all. Just when you think you're being served up a family melodrama, the film does an abrupt about turn to focus on Churchill's return to health and political action.What we also get is the creation of a fictitious nurse who is brought in to provide special care for the great man and predictably becomes a lightning rod between the sometimes difficult relationship of Churchill and his wife Clementine. As a device, I found it an unnecessary distraction. There's also a lot of questionable guff floating about too as the ailing P.M. recalls childhood memories in his distracted state concerning the early death of an infant girl-friend which causes him to sing "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles" on occasion.I wasn't impressed with the acting either. Martin Gambon looks nothing like Churchill, a difference highlighted all the more as a portrait of the real Winston is for some reason prominently displayed in some scenes and besides barely tries to reproduce his master's distinctive voice. Lindsay Duncan is similarly unconvincing as the wife / matriarch figure Clemmy Churchill and acts like she's permanently sitting on a very sharp pin, while Nurse Appleyard could have walked off the set of "Call The Midwife" so stereotypical is her character. Did I mention the (in)action was slow and ponderous too?This was thin fare in my opinion and added little to my insight of either the 1950's political situation, the internal workings of the Churchill family or the character of a great man in decline.

benbrae76 I looked forward to this production with anticipation of something great, particularly with the wealth of acting talent on hand. But oh dear! What a disappointment!Michael Gambon/Churchill took to his bed and seemed to want to stay there and forget about the whole thing. The rest of the cast looked equally bored and I'm not surprised. Even their combined talent couldn't rescue this tedious and utterly pointless badly-constructed and ill-scripted piece of alleged 'factual' drama in which one of the central characters...the nurse...was actually fictitious. As for the plot...what plot? There's very little plot in it to discuss.No doubt there will be those who will drool over it and call it 'art', but it's already gone to the back-burner of my mind as easily forgettable, and never to be watched again.In short it was a waste of time and effort for both cast and viewer.