Their Finest has a brilliant premise. Despite the fantastic cast, Their Finest, though enjoyable, can be unconvincing and uncomfortable.
Based on the novel by Lissa Evans, Their Finest follows Catrin (Gemma Arterton) who is hired to write dialogue for a British World War II propaganda film. The film within the film tells an uplifting story of the evacuation of Dunkirk. As Catrin works on the film she encounters the variety of people involved in its making. This includes fellow writer and potential love-interest Buckley (Sam Claflin) and aging actor Ambrose (Bill Nighy). Their Finest is directed by Lone Scherfig, of the Oscar nominated An Education.
This is such a strange adaptation because it is so similar to the book, yet so different. Complete story lines and characters are deleted in the film, additionally condensing the first couple hundred pages into about half an hour, drawing out the last hundred pages. It also changes the focus of the story, following mostly Catrin, with Ambrose a little on the side. Instead of portraying London life during World War II it more attempts to turn Their Finest into a romantic comedy surrounding the making of a film. However, many large blocks of dialogue are pulled directly from the novel and the course of action essentially stays exactly the same.
The novel of Their Finest is more of a documentarian-like account of various lives during World War II that happen to intertwine. However, the advertisements for the film promise a screwball comedy, even directly referencing His Girl Friday. It is not. The film takes the basic guidelines of a screwball but executes it in such a weak fashion.
Screwballs are essentially defined by witty repartee between equally matched male and female protagonists. Claflin’s Buckley is a prototypical screwball hero, but Arterton’s Catrin always falls short as the heroine. The scenes are essentially one-sided with Claflin performing the majority of the dialogue. The character’s writing partner will occasionally interject, but Catrin only weakly refutes Buckley’s statements. Catrin never fully challenges Buckley presenting a completely imbalanced relationship. Catrin is completely bulldozed by Buckley, worsened by spending about half the movie crying.
Their Finest is so impressive for its female-heavy team. The director, screenwriter, some producers, and even composer are all female. Despite all of this, the treatment of Catrin is disconcerting. She never really makes a definitive decision for herself, never feeling like an active participant in the story. Catrin often even assumes blame for which she has no responsibility. The message at the end is ultimately pro-female, however this outcome occurs almost coincidentally.
The tone for Their Finest is completely chaotic, becoming one of its biggest shortfallings. It attempts to balance comedy, drama, and romance. This has clearly been done before, but Their Finest is missing dexterity making the tone feel inconsistent, transitioning poorly. It is most successful in the balance in a scene in which Catrin discovers bodies lying on the ground after a bombing are mannequins. This shift between comedy and drama is unsettling and powerful, but could still be much stronger. It often uncomfortably switches between comedy and drama at breakneck speeds, leaving the audience laughing still when a deeply saddening scene occurs.
When Their Finest sticks to comedy, it is funny. It fittingly, largely consists of witty, subtle, British humor. The biggest laugh however occurs from the introduction of an American character. Jake Lacy steals the movie as American “actor” Lundbeck and is genuinely hilarious. When it commits, Their Finest is spot on with wit and humor, producing jokes consistently. It struggles when it shifts into the more serious wartime aspects.
The clips of the movie within Their Finest about the evacuation of Dunkirk is in many ways much more powerful than the main narrative of Their Finest. Their Finest loses a lot of its power by being too self-aware. As various executives and writers often discuss the conventions required to make their movie a success, it is clear that Their Finest is reflective of itself. Not only is this awkwardly obvious, it takes advantage of the audience by breaking the conventions it sets forth. This makes Their Finest more manipulative than genuine, which is strange in how often it stresses the importance of authenticity.
Their Finest could have been so much more than it was. The screwball comedy has been practically eradicated from modern cinema and this could have provided a seamless way to reintroduce it. Instead of creating an exciting spitfire female lead, Their Finest actually just creates another movie filled mostly with white men. At least they are funny. The comedy makes Their Finest watchable, and even enjoyable, but the movie turns completely artificial when it becomes serious. It does not even illustrate a love for filmmaking, only exploits it to create an argument, which it does not successfully execute.
Grade: B-