Their Finest [DVD] [2017]

Their Finest is a romantic comedy drama set during the blitz. Gemma Arterton is excellent as the welsh girl who finds her independence by fluking a writing job with the ministry of information, she and Sam Claflin [ the cynical screenwriter] make a charming would be couple. The film in atmosphere resembles John Boorman's Hope And Glory with ordinary life and relationships happening despite the war. Bill Nighy is excellent as the aging has been actor, if you read the cover of the DVD you would expect his performance to be comic, but his performance is both funny and poignant in places. Bill Nighy's performance is not the only one that is good in the movie, Richard E. Grant is also good as the man from the ministry and Rachael Stirling is great as the lesbian from the ministry! and then there is the cameo from Jeremy Irons doing his best Anthony Eden impersonation. So there are excellent performances but that is not the only thing to recommend this film it is beautifully shot the cinematography is excellent and the director knows how to frame a shot it makes the film a delight to watch. So far you would think that the war is completely ignored but in two scenes it intrudes gruesomely. So the film has wonderful performances and is ravishing to look at, it is well worth watching and it also has an unexpected conclusion.

A thoroughly enjoyable film set in wartime London, where people have to get on with their lives amid the danger and debris of falling bombs. Morale-boosting movies about the heroism of fighting troops and ordinary folk doing their bit at home were an important part of the war effort, and this is a story about a small team of film-makers charged with producing a stirring drama about the Dunkirk evacuation. They decide on a plot involving one particular small boat piloted by... well, no spoilers, but it's a nice idea. The story is told with a light touch and humour although it doesn't set out to be a comedy. The period settings and atmosphere are very convincing and the actors do a fine job, Bill Nighy being unmistakably Bill Nighy as always but none the worse for that. The only reason I gave four stars rather than five is that one or two of the plot twists are a little forced, perhaps because the film is keen to illustrate how the war helped women along the road to equality. However, that's not an important criticism and as a whole it's a good film. We watched it twice, enjoying it even more the second time.

I watched this with no particular expectation, and have made it one of my favourite films of recent years. So many rich details, and so lots of subtleties what you only catch the 2nd - or 3rd time - round. Very well made, and somewhat unpredictable. So, a sort of RomCom, but much much more. The leads are great - and Sam Claflin more than matches the two more bankable stars. He has a brilliant ability to add depth to the words via much gesture and glance, which is a perfect foil for Arterton's stillness and containment. I was completely entranced and recommend it to others who like a bit of everything in their film - wit, sadness, pacing, romance, irony and the a story which rattles along unexpectedly. I've just ordered the original novel, in the hope of understanding more of the smaller stories which are hinted at. Well directed and edited. Enjoy.

The film doesn't seem to know what it is trying to achieve or say in any way. One minute it is a romance, another a satire on propaganda (while really saying 'social engineering' is okay really, but for the 'right' reasons), a bit of equal rights then some seriously heavy handed sexism. Couldn't they just have avoided all that and made an entertaining film instead? One of the most hilarious aspects was the point they made about how only a gay woman would wear trousers. Take all the agendas out of it and maybe it would have been a lot better. It is supposed to be set in London but you wouldn't know it. The attempts to make it historically authentic appear to stop at everyone chain smoking. Okay we get it, people smoked cigarettes and pipes all over the place in the 1940s but when literally every bit of dialogue is interrupted with someone asking if someone wants one or passing it back and forth to each other it come off as comedic and disrupts the flow of the scene. Although Bill Nighy basically saves the film it was as if they were determined to waste good actors.They drag in Jeremy Irons for a cameo. Why? What a waste. Then they bring in Eddie Marsan for a supporting role only for him to be wasted on a silly accent, a funny dog and a quick exit. Richard E Grant gets to stand and sit up straight a lot proving he has great posture but not much else. Why weren't they better written? Sam Claflin is clearly doing his best to channel an early Johnny Depp while expressing way too much angst and emotion for any 'man' in 1940s Britain. If there is one thing they got right it was putting Arterton and Claflin together as they have great chemistry. A silly story with outrageous plot twists and clichés all over the place but probably worth a watch if you are looking for a Sunday afternoon matinee on the sofa. Worth it for Bill Nighy's performance. Arterton is poor and someone should have got her a coach for the terrible Welsh accent she slaughters through every scene.

I love this film. The story is lovely, a film about making a film, only this time a WWII propaganda film which would resonate with the British public and was particularly poignant with reference to the Dunkirk rescue of thousands of British servicemen trapped in a corner of France by the Germans. But the theme making of this agit-prop film was juxtaposed with the other main theme, the love story, also poignant, of our heroine, played by Gemma Arterton, Catrin's demeaning relationship with lover but budding relationship with her co-screenwriter. AND, we have a marvellous cast of actors, led by Bill Nighy as an ageing, has-been actor, and backed up by such luminaries as Helen McCrory, Rachael Stirling, Eddie Marsan, and Jeremy Irons. The lightings are suitably sepia, the backdrops well-designed, the wartime sense of anxiety and uncertainty convincing. This is thoroughly engaging film, another superb directing success from Lone Scherfig ('An Education' is another of my favourites). With central female protagonists, and excellent support from older actresses (viz. McCrory in this or Emma Thompson in 'An Education', 'Their Finest' is a must-see.

Fantastic film, the sort they "don't make anymore", absolute joy that I have watched again and again.

Lovely film

This is a very good film. 'A film within a film, where the story is about filming a propaganda war film at a critical stage of the second world war. The actors and the filming crew lives are played on and off screen. There are many funny and touching moments, all acted out with restrain and great subtlety. The pomposity of war heroes, politicians and male dominance is gently poked at. It is very British, very well acted, very well filmed and has a very subtle screenplay. It was interesting that it came out at the same time as other war films like Dunkirk. It is a refreshing change from a lot of war films. , the screenplay is very subtle, gentle, amusing but also very sharp.