June 1944. The Allied invasion of German-occupied France is due to take place within the next few days. All the plans are set and the operation is ready to go. However, Prime Minister Winston Churchill has grave misgivings for the invasion, fearing that it will be a monumental disaster. He tries to have it stopped, but runs into resistance from the Allied military top brass.

Terrible. Historically inaccurate at every turn. So inaccurate that you figure the writer did no research at all for the screenplay, simply making stuff up as she went along, all for the sake of melodrama. A list of the inaccuracies would run the length of the movie, so are impossible to list in a concise review. Just the thought that Churchill opposed the Normandy landings is bad enough, but that is just the top of the tip of the iceberg.

Even more infuriating is that the movie portrays Churchill as a doddering, indecisive, ignorant, meddling, even senile, old man. An outrageous slander of one of the key figures of the winning of WW2, and one of the greatest figures in history.

Even as a fictional drama, this movie doesn't work. The military side is woefully inaccurate, eg Churchill sending the location of the Allied invasion in a telegram, a Navy officer is part of the 2nd wave of the invasion.

Plus the movie is incredibly repetitive. Churchill gives several monologues about his reasons for opposing the invasion, all saying the same thing. It is just empty melodrama.

Brian Cox and Miranda Richardson deserve a whole lot better than this. Most importantly, Winston Churchill deserves far better than this, and his descendants an apology from the film-makers.

It's not like this viewer watched 'Churchill' expecting or wanting to hate it. Nothing could be further from the truth. Actually very much wanted 'Churchill' to succeed, considering that it is based on an important historical figure and his incredible story. Also very much like historical dramas and the cast is enough to draw anybody in.

'Churchill' turned out to be a real disappointment. Not one of the year's worst, it's nowhere near as bad as 'The Mummy' or 'Transformers: The Last Knight', but it's one of the most disappointing. It has been remarked that the representation of Churchill and his story is grossly inaccurate to the point of perversity. This is true, but 'Churchill' has more wrong with it than just historical inaccuracy and for now will be judged on its own as a film.

Let's start with the good things. The best thing about it is the magnificent performance of Brian Cox, a blistering portrayal and also a nuanced one that never resorts to mimicry, caricature or imitation. He may not sound like Churchill but man did he do his work. Faring best in support is an imperious Miranda Richardson and the two work very well together.

Jonathan Teplitzsky directs with some degree of dignity and the production values are spot on meticulous, beautifully photographed and with production and costume design that's atmospheric, sumptuous and evocative. The make-up for Churchill is well done.

Unfortunately, 'Churchill' is let down primarily by a thinly sketched, melodramatic and contrived script and a plodding over-stretched story that feels muddled in tone and focus. Most of the support acting doesn't work, John Slattery lacks the gravitas for Eisenhower and James Purefoy is in every sense one of the grossest miscasts for any film personally seen recently.

Pacing is leaden, and this is coming from somebody who is quick to defend deliberately paced films criticised for being "boring" (one of his most hated words as of now),too often and the music score is far too intrusive to an annoying degree.

Overall, disappointing but not a complete disaster. 5/10 Bethany Cox

I'll admit I'm not an expert on Winston Churchill and all facets of World War II and D-Day, but I know enough that when the film had Churchill adamantly opposing the preparations for the D-Day landing, I had to wonder if this was a fictional treatment. For his part, actor Brian Cox uncannily affects the posture and mannerisms of the renowned British Prime Minister, but his portrayal here is an unflattering portrait of a man who initially recognized the Nazi threat, only to be disregarded by military generals and browbeaten by his wife (Miranda Richardson) for being steadfast. Long story short, the film depicts Churchill not being a fan of D-Day, while lamenting his own past failure during a World War I campaign at Gallipoli some thirty years earlier. The story goes on to suggest that he hadn't kept up with the times and was woefully inept to consider modern battle strategies as supported by American General and Supreme Allied Commander, Dwight Eisenhower (John Slattery),French Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery (Julian Wadham),and Britain's own Field Marshal Alan Brooke (Danny Webb). About the only thing that sounded right to me had to do with the unfavorable weather forecast for the English Channel and how a narrow window of opportunity allowed for the Allied fleet to sail and Air Forces to fly. Finally, after all this poorly defined treatment of Churchill, the picture closes with the caption that he's commonly regarded as Britain's greatest man. But you'd never know it by this unfortunate movie.