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Very well executed

the audience applauded

Such a frustrating disappointment

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Albert Finney and Vanessa Redgrave star in his HBO movie which takes its title from the first volume of Winston Churchill's World War II memoirs, The Gathering Storm. These were the years of Churchill's exile from power when he was on the back benches of Parliament. He would be out of office from the time Stanley Baldwin's Tory government lost to the Labour Party of Ramsay MacDonald in 1929 until 1940. Finney plays Churchill and his wife Clementine is essayed well by Redgrave.Churchill made a severe miscalculation twice during the Thirties. First he resigned the shadow cabinet of the Tories when Baldwin who is played here by Derek Jacobi over Indian independence. Secondly he also tried a power play against Baldwin by offering to form a King's Party in support of Edward VIII during the abdication crisis. Neither move guaranteed him a willing audience when he started to make speeches warning against the rearmament and aggressive intent of Nazi Germany. Both those moves are passed over lightly if mentioned at all.For this and the fact that the film takes Churchill's point of view 100% the plot of this is heavy handed in his favor and recent scholarship has given Stanley Baldwin a better grade during his term in office and especially over the rearmament issue. Like we in the USA the UK was not in a mood to hear Cassandra like warnings about Germany. Public opinion had to come around and Churchill waited on it more than made it in my humble opinion.It also goes into the private life of Winnie and Clemmie and the years in exile for a man as energetic and as egotistical as Churchill freely admitted he was were a great strain on the marriage. That's where Ms. Redgrave comes in. She's one frustrated woman not knowing how to channel the volcanic energy that was her husband. We see him painting and writing, particularly his acclaimed life of his ancestor The Duke Of Marlborough. There's a fine Masterpiece Theater series on that Churchill that starred John Neville and Susan Hampshire that I also recommend based on Churchill's biography.A minor player here is Linus Roache better known as ADA Mike Cutter on Law And Order. He plays Ralph Wigram who was not the only source of information for Churchill. But at cost to his career and health with the pressures involved, he smuggled out a lot of secret information the Foreign Office was keeping from the British public as Hitler's moves and intentions. Although the book The Gathering Storm is no longer accepted as THE final word on the period, the film The Gathering Storm is a fine insight into Winston Churchill in his exile years.

What an incredible time in history to cover in a film. A lot of young people today really don't understand what an incredible gift was given to us by way of Mr. Churchill's vision and determination to defend against such a horrible man like Hitler. Had he not, what a different world we would be living in today.We've heard of Mr.Churchill and the famous speech during World War 2, but to get such an intimate view of the man himself, his family and the wonderful pride he had in England was inspiring. I wish there were more people like him in our world today. He wasn't afraid to speak out when the rest of the country wanted him to play along..and behave.Albert Finney was simply extraordinary in this film, as was Vanessa Redgrave. The whole cast was wonderful.I would highly recommend this film to all.

I bought this movie on DVD and didn't watch it for a few weeks, expecting another dry commentary on this WWII icon. When I finally pulled it out of it's plastic, I was pleasantly surprised! This is a movie that finally shows Winston the human—both as a father and (with more in depth development) a husband. It shows the vulnerable Winston behind the plump bellied, arrogant, smelly-cigar-smoking, politician. History books generally paint Churchill a bit one dimensional (in my humble opinion)—more like a caricature of a man. Within this movie he comes to life; a warm blooded human being living in a home with a family; enduring, persevering, enjoying and surviving all that life offers him.

I can't endorse this movie enough. It demonstrates the truth of destiny and what one may have to endure to accomplish one's destiny. I.e. that one has to keep trudging on, that one might know one level what their destiny is, but at the same time have to find out where it is in the real world. Also that even great men can suffer from depression. The difference is how it is dealt with.I should add the most important point which is that even when the whole of parliament was against him, Churchill stuck to his guns on his belief of what Germany was about. He was ridiculed, marginalized and not treated well. It was his preparation and his alarm bells despite all of this that saved England.And this is the real last point: it also demonstrates how important the support of those around him was.