Cinema: The Darkest Hour
Posted on 10th Jan 12 by Brian Lloyd | 
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‘…it doesn’t work, it’s not scary and you really won’t care…’
Budget is rarely the measure of quality in a film. Directors must make do with what they have and either confine their vision to what they’re able to achieve or they must redefine it entirely – make something new and inventive. With THE DARKEST HOUR, however, it’s something else entirely. Fans of FAMILY GUY may be familiar with a particular gag wherein Glenn Quagmire imagines directing a film for $10 million dollars, featuring B-list actors such as Laura Linney in a rather humdrum city featuring “a bomb that doesn’t make explosions”. The joke, as you’d imagine, is that a story can be changed to fit the demands of a budget and rarely makes for a good film. With THE DARKEST HOUR, this is hammered home in every single scene.
The story follows Emile Hirsch and Max Minghella, two software developers, who are in Moscow to close a deal that will see their product funded and on to bigger and better things. In possibly the thinnest backstory scene known to man, they’re being marginalised by Joel Kinnaman, here playing a sleazy Swede businessman, and find themselves in a nightclub – drowing their sorrows. This, of course, is where the story takes off. The planet is attacked by invisible aliens (yes, really) who wipe out electricity. But, when they’re near electricity, they conduct it. So, of course, the film sets up the first of many rules that the aliens follow. Naturally, they lock themselves into the storeroom of the nightclub, along with two female clubgoers (Olivia Thirlby & Rachael Taylor) who happen to be American and attractive and Swedish Sleazeball to hide from the aliens. They emerge after a period of less than a week to find Moscow empty and devoid of life and electricity.
The script and plot are so insipid as to be painful. While a film doesn’t necessarily need reams of dialogue in order to convey what each character is feeling, the screenwriter should stretch himself harder than “I can’t do it” and “I’m so scared”. The screenwriter, Jon Spaiths, has written PROMETHEUS, hotly tipped as Ridley Scott‘s glorious return to science fiction. Considering this is the first film that Spaiths has worked on that has seen the light of day, it’s little wonder that Damon Lindelof was brought in and given a co-writing credit for PROMETHEUS. The direction is bland and very workman-like. There’s absolutely no sense of pacing or suspense at any point of the film. Because the script is so flat and two-dimensional, none of the characters are fleshed out to the point where you actually care whether they live or die – in fact, you’re hoping for them to be picked off so as to remove their performances. Chris Gorak, the director, really doesn’t do anything to inspire confidence in his ability. Given that this is his second film and given a budget of $30 million, others have worked far better for less. A prime example is MOON. If you’ve never seen it, stop reading and watch it. If you have, you’ll know it’s an intelligent and thoughtful sci-fi film by a masterful director. That was his first film – which he made for $5 million. It may be a completely different beast to THE DARKEST HOUR, but the fact that one was done with six times LESS than the other, who’s the better filmmaker?
As for the cast, it’s something of a strange one. Max Minghella and Emilie Hirsch are both actors who have reasonably impressive indie credentials. Hirsch was impressive in MILK and INTO THE WILD and Minghella gave a decent performance in both THE SOCIAL NETWORK and THE IDES OF MARCH. Likewise, Olivia Thirlby – one of the aforementioned Attractive Americans™ – was interesting in JUNO and the short-lived HBO series, BORED TO DEATH. There must have been a reason they chose to star in this film, but it certainly couldn’t have been the script – because there’s nothing in it. Their performances are all pretty terrible, playing far too seriously in what seems like a B-Movie schlockfest. Or maybe that’s what they’re going for? Everything about this film screams cheaply made. It can be interesting in a film where a lot is left to the imagination. In other words, what you don’t see is far worse than what you do see. It’s a subtle art and can work brilliantly, in cases like JOHN CARPENTER’S THE THING and PARANORMAL ACTIVITY. With THE DARKEST HOUR, it is the antithesis of this. It doesn’t work, it’s not scary and you really won’t care about any of it.
Oh, and it’s in 3D. So there’s that.
DROP-D RATING: 3/ 10
Tags: Cinema, Culture, emile hirsch, Fail, max minghella
