Brian Cox nails Winston Churchill in gripping historical drama

REVIEW: Move over John Lithgow. Brian Cox’s portrayal of Winston Churchill raises the stakes. Can Gary Oldman match them?

CHURCHILL

Three and a half stars

Director Jonathan Teplitzky

Starring Brian Box, Miranda Richardson, John Slattery

Rating M

Running time 104 minutes

Verdict Gripping historical drama

DODDERING political relic (The Crown), Machiavellian sneak (Viceroy’s House) ... Winston Churchill is clearly a person of interest in the current zeitgeist.

The wily, two-time British PM is being examined from a variety of different angles (next up is the Joe Wright/Gary Oldman feature Darkest Hour).

Jonathan Teplitzky’s eponymously-titled biopic, which stars an unrecognisable Brian Cox as the larger-than-life historical figure, sets out to explore the man behind the myth.

It’s a nice complement to John Lithgow’s scene-stealing, SAG-winning performance in Netflix’s royal TV soap.

Rather than battle each other for a “definitive” version of the great man, Lithgow and Cox’s portrayals are strangely harmonious, almost interdependent.

Brian Cox and Miranda Richardson in a scene from the film. Picture: Graeme Hunter

And that’s partly because of the tonal differences between the two projects.

Lithgow’s Churchill was a supporting player in a melodramatic version of events (which take place during his second term as PM.).

Cox is the leading man in a thoughtful, naturalistic behind-the-scenes drama.

Churchill, the film of Alex von Tunzelmann’s screenplay, is set in the 96 hours leading up to D-Day.

The clock ticks, elemental forces gather, unimaginable choices are made ...

As supreme commander of the allied expeditionary forces in Europe, General Eisenhower (John Slattery) is mobilising for a definitive WWII victory.

Haunted by Gallipoli, in which his hubris may have played a hand, Churchill becomes convinced that another massacre is imminent.

Wracked with doubt, he tries to stop the assault.

Churchill (Cox) cuts a solitary figure on the beach as he recalls Gallipoli. Picture: Graeme Hunter

The high-ranking allied officers in charge of the military operation observe him with barely-disguised disdain.

They are inclined to treat Churchill as a liability, and the way he knocks back the spirits — even at breakfast — certainly gives one pause for thought.

Cox’s Churchill teeters on the edge of absurdity but the actor never allows him to topple over.

He is supported on the domestic front by his formidable, long-suffering wife Clementine (Miranda Richardson) a woman who is clearly made of steel.

It’s she who sees him through the debilitating depressive episodes that render him incapable of getting out of bed.

Fifty years at the forefront of global politics make Churchill a fascinating narrative subject.

Cox’s performance captures both his gravitas and his flawed humanity. It’s a rich and layered performance that puts the actor in great company. (Lithgow, Richard Burton and Albert Finney, to name but three.)

Churchill is now screening (opens June 8).

Originally published as Brian Cox nails Winston Churchill in gripping historical drama