Their Finest (2017) – Review

“Film is life without the boring bits” is one of the lines from Their Finest and an important reason why we love movies so much. If they are good, they offer a world for one and a half to three hours in which something is constantly happening, whether it is a lot of action or small personal moments. It is a period in which you do not have to do anything yourself and yet experience a great deal. Really good films are able to move you or give you a different view of something that you normally do not think about. And that all starts with someone who has a good idea and knows how to turn that into a fascinating script. That is partly what this film is all about.

London, during the second world war, just after the events in Dunkirk. Catrin Cole (Gemma Arterton) is looking for work and manages to land a job writing scripts for propaganda movies. She has talent, but still a to learn. She reads a newspaper article about twins who sailed to Dunkirk with their father’s boat to help and she is asked to do more research into the story. She visits the sisters and when she returns it is decided that this is the perfect story to make a propaganda film about, to convince the Americans to join the war. While life in London is becoming increasingly difficult, Catrin has to struggle with difficult actors, scripts that have to be rewritten while she is struggling to keep her relationship.

 After having seen Dunkirk not too long ago, this is a nice addition to that, as you understand the importance of what’s happening here. But even if you have not seen that film, Their Finest is a title that has plenty to offer in terms of both drama and humor. Bill Nighy is a pleasure to watch as he plays an older, experienced actor who wants to show everyone how its done, but who has to deal with the fact that not everything goes as he would like. The film also knows how to communicate how difficult the situation was, what the role of film was, and at the same time what happens behind the scenes and what is needed before something just appears in the cinema. A nice film to watch, especially for lovers of film.