About to watch the Brexit film. Worked with Dom on a daily basis for 4 years so this is going to be interesting....
(Had nothing to do with Leave though!)
(Had nothing to do with Leave though!)
The mannerisms are perfect but the accent isn't quite strong enough. And he looks too neat / sounds too articulate. Certainly getting across his total contempt for Tory MPs....
It's like a West Wing version of Dom.
Dom never called Craig Oliver by his name. Always called him Dre because of a photo published of him wearing Beats headphones.
Didn't think it was possible to capture how much of a prat Bernard Jenkin is but James Graham has done a good job there....
Oh god the focus group scene. Painfully realistic.
Dom would certainly never have called Gove "Mr Gove sir". Ffs.
And Gove wouldn't have looked quizzical if Dom went a bit manic! He'd worked with him for 8 years...
"Jeremy voted against in 1975 and he hasn't changed his mine on anything in 40 years". True story Peter M. True story.
Only the 1st scene. The 2nd was not!
He would never have had a drink with Craig Oliver!
This is like the tube scene in the Churchill film. Cringily unrealistic.
OK - finished. Some broader thoughts....
It certainly captures Dom's skill as a campaigner and his instinctive understanding of anti-authority politics that so few in Westminster have. Plus his focus on message discipline and historical strategists.
It certainly captures Dom's skill as a campaigner and his instinctive understanding of anti-authority politics that so few in Westminster have. Plus his focus on message discipline and historical strategists.
What it missed was the other side of Dom. The gleefully destructive side that just wants to blow everything up. Craig Oliver had the line about it not taking a genius to start fires but we really didn't see that manic energy in Cumberbatch's performance.
So we only got the calm, wise, slightly down Dom. Even the brief moments of anger were downplayed. The sheer contempt and loathing for his enemies was missing.
Enjoyed it though. Decent run at dramatising Shipman's book with a few moments that took dramatic licence too far. Got the basic dynamics of the campaigns right I think.
One other thing I think they underplayed was quite how much loyalty Dom inspires in people who do work for him and how loyal (and often v kind) he is to people who he trusts and knows are on his side. The Vote Leave really would have all walked if he'd been fired.
