Only one film released for home viewing this week to note:
WOMAN IN GOLD
Directed by Simon Curtis
Screenplay by Alexi Kaye Campbell; E. Randol Schoenberg; Maria Altman
Starring: Ryan Reynolds and Helen Mirren
A David vs Goliath story. Helen Mirren plays an elderly Jewish woman named Maria Altmann who sixty years after she fled Vienna, Austria to escape the Nazis, starts her uphill legal battles to retrieve a valuable painting that was seized by the Nazis, a painting that is now in the possession of a museum in Austria. A young lawyer, Randy Schoenberg (Ryan Reynolds) helps Maria in her quest that receives resistance from the Austrian establishment.
It has a feel of last years Philomena (I find Women In Gold a bit better) with the theme of righting history. Woman In Gold Tackles tackles the fact that thousands of artwork and paintings, that were stolen by Nazis, to this day, have never been restored to their rightful owners.
When the film came out critics were saying that Ryan Reynolds was miscast in this role. I disagree. I think that Ryan Reynolds is not that great of an actor, in fact I always find him a bit stiff and has a tendency to overact. Here I think he does a serviceable job as Randy the lawyer, he is not the star and does a good job just stepping back a bit and letting Mirren shine.
Helen Mirren is very good in this film as Maria trying to get the painting back but also at the same time coming to terms all these years with guilt, for she blames herself for abandoning her family and abandoning their possessions.
I did not go see this film right away when it came out. The trailer did not prompt me. I was greatly surprised how the film pulled me in when I eventually went to see it. It is an interesting, wonderful, sad story. It did have legs in the theaters it stayed around for about 2 months. Still after seeing it I thought it may have been better served on HBO or some other outlet...not sure about the big screen.
I would give it 3 1/2 out of 5 stars and now available for home viewing I would say an interesting must see film, touching on a sad part of history.
As always from the shadows ...thanks for your time.
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