INTO THE STORM

INTO THE STORM - 2009 (TV)

RATED - TV-PG There is some fairly minor language including a couple 'F' words by Churchill. Some archival war footage with war violence but not overly graphic. Churchill is shown taking a bath and talking to FDR. His chest and feet are showing and when he gets out, his aid wraps a towel in the appropriate place which promptly falls off, leaving FDR pretty much speechless. We don't see anything other than the rear upper torso of Churchill. This is pretty family friendly and should be of interest to teens and older.

RATINGS - 4 Amazon (3/5), 1,937 Netflix (3.5/5), 461 IMDB (7.1/10).

STARRING - Brendan Gleeson (Churchill), Janet McTeer (Clementine Churchill).

STORY - An excellent HBO production on the life of Churchill during the war years following up on their terrific film, THE GATHERING STORM, leading up to the war years. I didn't think Gleeson was quite as outstanding as Albert Finney in GATHERING STORM or McTeer as Redgrave but they both gave excellent performances. There is no question that Churchill, warts and all, is one of the most fascinating men in modern history. In the GATHERING STORM we learn of Churchill's sense of destiny for his life. In this film we see why he may have indeed been destined for 'such a time as this'. The circumstances are overwhelming for Britain. The future of the country and the empire are literally on the line. The film begins with the very early stages of the war in 1940 and quickly flashes forward to 1945 with Churchill and family vacationing in France by the ocean, waiting for the results of the election for prime minister. These flashbacks and flash forwards are both the strength and weakness of the film. They show us the 'before' and 'after' Churchill but often make it a little confusing at first until you understand what's going on. It also helps to have some knowledge about Churchill and WWII as the scenes are usually fairly short and don't give a lot of context. What you do you get is some very interesting insights into the mind of Churchill in the various war situations. For example, when deciding whether to bomb Dresden, his military advisers are concerned about civilian casualties but Churchill shows no concern for civilians and we learn shortly after the decision that 58,000 civilians are killed and 200,000 lose their occupations due to the destruction of war factories. We learn that he has loved military strategy from a young child and people question whether this might just another 'game' for him. His relationship with 'Clemmy' is also a fascinating one. She is a strong person in her own right and without her, it is doubtful Churchill would have fulfilled his 'destiny' in the way he did. A highly entertaining and informative HBO film. Enjoy. Lu G. for Lu's Reviews. 12/05/09.

LINKS - AMAZON, IMDB.