Their Finest

For reals. I hate modern movies. Why does everything have to have a crud ending? Completely superfluous. Great movie up until the last quarter. What is with our societies' obsession with things not ending happily? Why do we need to watch sad depressing stuff?? I thought this was going to be funny and uplifting with a wry take on London life during the 1940's. I expected some sadness, it's World War II, but for reals, if you watch this you will understand what I mean. Puck this movie. Puck it up the donkey with a hot poker. I'm so mad. 😡😡😡😡😡

Slowly but surely I have come to distrust Rotten Tomatoes. It used to be a pretty reliable barometer but this movie is a perfect example of why that is no longer true. 88%?! No. The story didn't have the potential to be earth shattering one way or another but it definitely had the makings of a nice little movie focusing on one small aspect of a complicated time with the bonus of a unique opportunity to highlight the wonder of movie making before the advent of all the techology we are used to today. They added to that potential with a great cast, beautiful locations, and solid production design. Instead they made a clunky (literally and figuratively) story where you don't care about the characters, what they are trying to achieve or what happens to them. The characters are shockingly one dimensional, the pace and tone of the movie is extremely abrupt and (I can't believe I'm saying this) not even Bill Nighy can save it. I mean, who in their right mind gives Billy Nighy so little to do. That should be proof enough that this is not a good movie.

I love British period historical drama. This however was terrible. Dont expect this to satisfy your itch.

I usually avoid watching movies that have a high Rotten Tomatoes rating as that's an indicator that the movie is going to be vapid and vacuous, boring, or just plain bad. But after the preview I decided to give this a shot. I wish I had listened to my instincts (that were screaming at me to pay attention to that high Rotten Tomatoes rating!), that way I could have avoided wasting the last hour and a half watching pointless movie. It didn't entertain me, it just kind of rambled on and on. It didn't teach me anything new: about Dunkirk, World War II, the Blitz, or the British movie-making industry in 1940s England. And it didn't provide any new or interesting insights into the human condition. It was just... pointless drivel.

Dazzling script, full of charm and wit. Luminous performances. Gemma Arterton is full of heart. And Bill Nighy’s character seems like it must have been written exactly for him. Later in the film there’s an interesting juxtaposition of an almost absurdist tragic moment with what until then had only been the melodramatic tragedy of the puffed up Dunkirk rescue movie these characters were producing for public morale, at government behest. This plot device suddenly makes real for Aterton’s character the tragedy she had until then only been embroidering into an embellished Dunkirk tale.

My wife and I couldn't even finish it. She fell asleep after about an hour. Don't know how this got good reviews.

Really enjoyed this film- the small ensemble cast was well tuned with one another. Bill Nighy was hilarious as usual yet touchingly restrained where it was needed. Gemma Arterton played her character's transformation well. Sam Claflin was excellent, witty and then heartbreakingly stoic, appropriate for the WWII setting. And the sets, art direction and costuming transported me to 1940s London. This one is in my iTunes library from now on.

Costumes and production values are quite good. I find the pace dreadfully slow. The characters are cardboard cut-out cliches. Dialog is occasionally witty, usually predictable. The character of Catrin is a "waif admid forces" and doesn't have much to do with moving the plot. Things happen to her, which may reflect the reality of wartime Britain. I was unmoved.

This is movie awesome. Feels very authentic. Absolutely loved it.

My family watched this movie 5 times. The details in the dialog shine.