Review: Their Finest (12(A)

Based on Lissa Evans' novel Their Finest Hour And A Half, Lone Scherfig's wartime comedy combines frothy drama with heart-tugging romance, assisted by a starry and largely British cast.
By The Newsroom
Published 25th Apr 2017, 10:09 BST
Updated 9th May 2017, 18:38 BST
FINE WORK: Sam Claflin as Tom Buckley and Gemma Arterton as Catrin Cole from Their Finest. PA Photo/Lionsgate.FINE WORK: Sam Claflin as Tom Buckley and Gemma Arterton as Catrin Cole from Their Finest. PA Photo/Lionsgate.
FINE WORK: Sam Claflin as Tom Buckley and Gemma Arterton as Catrin Cole from Their Finest. PA Photo/Lionsgate.

When her painter husband fails to sell his canvasses, Arterton takes a position as a secretary at the British Ministry of Information, which produces propaganda to buoy the nation’s spirits. Richard E Grant plays the head of the film division and he entreats scriptwriters Sam Claflin and Paul Ritter to unearth a true story of wartime heroism that embodies “authenticity with optimism” and can be immortalised on celluloid. The real-life rescue of wounded British soldiers from the beaches of Dunkirk by twin sisters using their father’s boat is just the ticket. Arterton is asked to pen the female characters’ dialogue – dismissively referred to as “the slop”. Handsome airman Jake Lacy, who is more wooden than the studio sets, is cast alongside ageing ham Nighy on a shoot that sparks forbidden romance and mutual respect between Arterton and Claflin who kindle a spiky on-screen romance.

On general release.