This truly is a superb biography of probably the greatest prime minister that England has ever known. Albert Finney gives one of his best performances out of many as Churchill, becoming him in every way, and not afraid to literally show us Winston in the buff. With the beautiful Vanessa Redgrave as his wife, you really get a glimpse into their marriage that shows the love, honesty, arguments and even tenderness, talking to scene near the conclusion where the Gruffs any breaks down and tells her how he never thought he would receive love like what he gets from her. You rarely get to see a man of such power and commanding presence be so brutally honest about his emotions. Vanessa's radiant smile shows a woman of such compassion and tenderness and integrity that you wish she did not disappear for a good quarter of the film.

The story focuses on Churchill's years as head of the conservative party, dealing with rising conflict in the early years of Hitler's Germany. He is not yet prime minister, but obviously perhaps the most respected member of Parliament, and as he fights the anti semitic views of many of his colleagues, he finds himself being opposed as Britain struggles to deal with a world crisis. Churchill gets to show how he deals with his devoted staff, fully dedicated to his idealism and even respected colleagues, as they turn against his methodology of how to deal with the greatest villain of the 20th Century.

So this isn't really a war story. It is a pre-war story and you see the psychological conflicts rising rather than a battle of the fields. This is a film filled with humor yet real emotional struggles, as Hitler, while not seen, is felt throughout as the giant snake taking over Europe with his intentions of furthering hate and destruction. A superb supporting cast includes such familiar faces as Derek Jacobi, Tom Wilkinson, Hugh Bonneville and Jim Broadbent, and even with the people who are opposed to Churchill's methods you can find some sort of sympathy with although a few are definitely anti-semitic in their feelings and obviously have an agenda which would ultimately support the Nazis. But these characters are not presented in black-and-white terms, featuring many Greys that ultimately would not benefit world peace. This definitely belongs on a list of modern classics dealing with World War II which does erupt at the end, and for both Churchill and Albert Finney, this ends up on a triumphant note which wood show triumph in the world once again against evil even though it had to follow a long string of atrocities.

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.

The Gathering Storm is a HBO/BBC co-production focusing on a pre World War Two, Winston Churchill, a lone voice warning of German aggression.

Churchill is brilliantly portrayed by Albert Finney, someone who is much an outcast, practicing his speeches which are spoken in an almost empty Commons chamber. Struggling with money, a growing family and cajoling information out of the Foreign Office.

Linus Roache is Ralph Wigram the Foreign Office mole who hands Churchill a lot of sensitive information.

At the time of the original broadcast of the film, there was controversy as Wigram's role had been exaggerated as in reality there were several people giving information to Churchill.

Vanessa Redgrave plays Churchill's wife who has had to suppress her own ambitions to raise a family and keep the home going and is desperate to take a trip to the Far East to explore.

The film has an all star cast from Jim Broadbent, Tom Wilkinson, Derek Jacobi and early appearances from Hugh Bonneville and Tom Hiddleston.

The film also marks the return to acting from Ronnie Barker who had retired from show-business in 1987. With such a cast, it is little wonder he returned from retirement to play the butler Inches. He very much steals the film.

The film looks gorgeous, is very well acted but comes across as clunky which is very much fault of the script.

We do see another side of Churchill who was more complex and I still think he is painted very much as the hero underdog. During his earlier stint in government he had done some unsavoury things as well as having a fondness for the booze.

There were also the juxtaposition of Wigram who has a disabled son being taken aback by the Nazi's pursuit of policies relating to racial purity and wanting to get rid of people who are abnormal.

It was done in a rather ham fisted way. We get it; Wigram wants the Nazis stopped because if they took over the world they will murder his child and other children like him.

The subject matter is still interesting and demands attention but maybe a more flowing and edgy screenplay was needed.