Churchill: The Hollywood Years Movie Review:


This offbeat comedy is basically a British filmmaker's response to decades of Hollywood revisionism--historical epics that cast America as the sole hero even if other countries actually did the job (see for example U-571). Here Britain's role in WWII is retold as an American action movie, and the result is very funny, even if it never scales the heights of classic satire.

In this version, Winston Churchill (Slater) is actually a handsome American G.I. who sweeps into 1940 London to save the day. Meanwhile, the young Princess Elizabeth (Campbell) also gets involved in the war effort, and sparks fly when she and Winston meet. Together they'll have to foil a sinister plot within the Palace involving a trusted aid (Phillips) to the clueless King (Enfield), as well as a secret visit by Hitler and Eva Braun (Sher and Richardson) themselves!

The story is completely preposterous, of course, and that's entirely the point. The film is jammed with riffs on how stupid Hollywood movies are--from inane action to ludicrous romance. And these knowing, assured jabs make the film genuinely funny, even though otherwise it's fairly annoying ... because it's an authentically stupid action movie with trashy dialog and corny characters! But as a satire this is very smart stuff with a strong point to make about American triumphalism.

Slater is excellent--every inch the all-American hero, complete with sparkling teeth, swashbuckling stunts and even a gratuitous shirtless scene. While Campbell is terrific as the young Queen, nailing Elizabeth's quirky accent and amusingly recasting her as a romantic movie heroine. Much of the film is similarly preposterous, gleefully playing with cliches and stereotypes as well as sly spoofs of everything from Brief Encounter to Mary Poppins (Dick Van Dyke Street in East London is populated by riverdancing "Irish Cockneys"). So the frequently dips into vulgarity seem cheap and witless. And in an apparent concession to people who might not get the joke, there are awkward bookend segments featuring a bad Tony Blair impersonator trying to negotiate with Hollywood. Director-cowriter Richardson should have more faith in his audience.



Rich Cline

Winston Churchill wasn’t the distinguished old gentleman who smoked cigars and rallied the British people to defeat the Nazi. He was in fact a brash American marine (Slater), who saved Britain for invasion single-handed. He was an instant hero, the love of a young Princess’s (Campbell) life and the only one who could stop Hitler (Sher) from just marching into Britain and then invaded the rest of the world. This is the true version of history, Hollywood style.

As Hollywood continues to rewrite history for the sliver screen and the British contribution to the Second World War continues to be ignored, the UK film industry has decided to fight back with what they do best, satire. The problem is that they have forgotten to include any good jokes.

If you were to believe Hollywood, the American’s won WWII single-handed and struck a blow for democracy. They captured the Enigma machine, they were the only ones who were involved in the D-Day landings and it was the biggest tragedy of the war when one of their Navy bases was bombed. They forget that Britain was bombarded every night, that we broke the Nazi codes and that our soldiers died in the war as well. So after years of watching Hollywood version of history, the people behind the Comic Strip series and Stella Street take this to the extreme and really rewrite history.

With their tongues firmly planted in their cheeks, director Peter Richardson and his cast and crew bring us the British version of America saving the world. Now Winston Churchill, one of the symbols of the Second World War, is not the renowned old gentleman who stirred up the passion of the British public by epitomising the spirit of the nation but a gung-ho American G.I. who is here to save us from Adolf Hitler and his Nazis. An intriguing premise that is bound to be filled with laughs and mickey taking but you would be sadly mistaken. The gags are very few and far between and when they do come they are very predictable. The film never manages to anything more than raise a smile, which is surprising when you see the comedic talent Richardson has gathered together.

Christian Slater has fell off the radar over the last few years but he is trying to get his way back into the limelight. This film won’t do him any favours however. He is fine as the American version of Churchill but it is the lack lustre script and poorly written dialogue doesn’t help his character in the slightest. The same can be said about Neve Campbell as Princess Elizabeth. She does her best as the future English monarch, but you just end up wondering why she chose this project when her career was just starting to be taken seriously. Some of the best of British comedy also have roles in the film but most have little more than cameos. Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer are completely wasted. Rik Mayall is just irritating. We needed to see more of Phil Cornwall’s Nazi Londoner and Leslie Phillips’ home secretary. Miranda Richardson is criminally underused, as is Mackenzie Cook. Harry Enfield and Antony Sher as King George and Adolf Hitler are good however, injecting some much-needed comedy into the mix.

Churchill: The Hollywood Years is a wasted opportunity for good British satire. The film just doesn’t push hard enough and forgoes laughs for clichés. The script, while slightly amusing in parts just doesn’t have enough comedic set pieces or dialogue to keep you entertained, making you think that laughter must have been rationed.



Jamie Kelwick

 

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