Into the Storm (2009)

Load of rubbish!!

Just perfect...

It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Brilliant biopic.The story of Winston Churchill's World War 2 life. From the outset, to him becoming Prime Minister and further, capturing all the major highs and lows. The famous speeches and quotes are all there.Concludes with the 1945 election, where the British people betrayed Churchill and ushered in a more socialist Britain, and ended an empire. Solid direction and script.What makes the movie, however, is Brendan Gleeson. He IS Churchill, to the smallest mannerism. Brilliant performance by him.Excellent performance too from Janet McTeer as Clementine, Churchill's wife.

"The Gathering Storm" was a fantastic film and Albert Finney's performance in that movie was nothing short of remarkable. I'm not sure why he didn't star in the sequel, but even his outstanding talents might not have been enough to rescue this film."Into the Storm" film missed too many of the key dramatic moments in the Churchill narrative. Churchill learned of his ridiculous electoral defeat (shame on you, British voters of 1945!) at Potsdam, not while on vacation in France. The writers changed history needlessly, for Potsdam would have formed a much more dramatic framework in which to flashback from. Certainly far more so than the vacation in France. Heck, HBO might have even gotten Gary Sinise to reprise his masterful performance as Truman.Why was there no depiction of Churchill's attempt to warn Stalin of Hitler's looming invasion and Stalin's ignoring of said warning? And where is Churchill interacting with figures like Eisenhower and De Gaulle? Why was all of this omitted? The worst thing about this movie, however, was the omission of Churchill's immortal "Finest Hour" speech. Seriously, how could the writers and producers omit such an amazing and inspirational speech? I was looking forward to the scene of him delivering this speech but, alas, it never came. The producers also could have thrown in a scene of his address to Congress (by the way, what was with the actor playing FDR? He resembled FDR, but didn't even try to sound like him at all).This film was about one of the bravest and boldest men of all time, the man perhaps most responsible for the defeat of Nazism. He was a real hero. He may have been flawed personally, but heroism consists in the transcending of one's flaws in the achievement of great things. How did the producers of this movie manage to screw up such golden subject matter?

I'm not sure whether this was intended to be a sequel to "The Gathering Storm" - the 2002 docudrama that did a good job of documenting Winston Churchill's life up to the outbreak of World War II - but whether or not it was, it's an essential companion piece if you're interested in Churchill's life. This deals with the war years, although doesn't portray any warfare (except for a brief shot of Churchill watching newsreels about the D-Day landings.) The focus is very much on Churchill - on his state of mind, on his personality, on his hopes and fears, and - like the earlier movie - on his relationship with his wife Clementine. It's a fascinating portrayal. It's not exciting in a normal sense, but it's interesting.Brendan Gleeson was very good as Churchill. I didn't miss Albert Finney, who was in the earlier production. Janet McTeer did a good job as Clementine. Their relationship was interesting to watch - very loving and supportive, but clearly also tensions (Clementine isn't thrilled that her husband was Prime Minister and she doesn't like the way he treats the people around him.) The movie jumps a bit from scene to scene - probably inevitably. Some aspects of Churchill's war-time life are strangely left out. For example, there's little interest in his relationship with his generals or with US General Eisenhower. In fact the movie (with he and Clemmie vacationing in France as a backdrop - which causes some historical confusion for me which I'll relate in a moment) has as it's underlying theme Churchill's fear of losing the election that was called after Germany's surrender. This I found interesting (if it's accurate.) I've always wondered why Churchill lost. You'd think he would have won. If the movie is accurate, I can understand his loss much better; particularly in the light of the radio speech he's depicted making, in which he lashes out viciously at the Labour Party and accuses them of needing to establish a "Gestapo" to implement their policies. Not very diplomatic, and - as the movie points out - certainly not destined to win over those who might have leaned Labour but supported Churchill in appreciation for his war leadership and who were front and centre in the fight against Hitler and Nazism and the Gestapo. I don't know if that was an accurate depiction of what Churchill said about Labour during the campaign or not, but if it was it was a huge political mistake! Churchill was, of course, devastated by his defeat, but I thought the ending of the movie served as an appropriate tribute (whether historically accurate or not.) After leaving office, Churchill - quite bitter - reluctantly agrees to go to a play with Clementine. As the play ends, the star draws the audience's attention to the presence of "the man who saved our nation - Winston Churchill," to which the audience responds with a standing ovation and cheers of "bravo." Whether it happened or not, it should have happened! That would have served as a better tribute than Churchill's disappointing return to office in 1950.The historical confusion I have revolves around the French vacation. Churchill was at the Potsdam Conference in Germany (not on vacation in France) with Stalin and Truman when the election results were announced, but there was no reference to him being at the Potsdam Conference?In closing, I was quite taken with the performance (in a limited role) of Iain Glen as King George VI. He was very good, as were Len Cariou as Roosevelt and Aleksei Petrenko as Stalin.

I am finally relieved of the long wait: the Gathering Storm left me strangely unfulfilled, ending as it did with the outbreak of WW2. Now Thaddeus Sullivan's Into the Storm carries us forward into that mammoth conflict with a splendid sensitive portrayal of the enigmatic Churchill.Hats off to Brendan Gleeson, I would never have thought an Irish actor could take over from my hero Albert Finney with such consummate ease, but I guess Brendan owns the role of Winston now, he truly WAS him! (Then again, what do I know, I thought Len Cariou played Roosevelt with a British accent,imagine my surprise to find he's a Winnipeger who lived a long time with Glen Close!)But Gleeson really was brilliant: His tribute to the disfigured pilot,are you humble in my presence,how humble do you think I am in yours? Drops his towel in front of Roosevelt, you see I have nothing to conceal from you ha ha! On religion: whether you believe or disbelieve,it's a wicked thing to take away a man's hope.I loved the throwaway lines: RAF Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur 'Bomber' Harris being stopped for speeding, and the copper saying you might have killed somebody, and Harris replying My dear fellow, I kill thousands of people every night!And Winnie's relationship with King George who was worried by Churchill's plans to land on DDay: I have decided to go in with the forward landing craft, I'm sorry your Majesty that would be impossible.. Why not Winston, at least I have a replacement.Come to think of it, there's no spoilers here, this is simply a trailer.. don't miss the show!