Should you watch this at weekend move ticket prices? No.
Should you watch this at weekday movie ticket prices? Yes.
Secret ending? No.
Running time: 109 minutes (~1.75 hours)
“Woman in Gold” is a drama based on the true story of Maria Altmann. It follows the quest of a Jewish refugee as she attempts to reclaim her family’s painting from an Austrian museum. It stars Helen Mirren (Maria Altmann), Ryan Reynolds (Randy Schoenberg), Tatiana Maslany (young Maria Altmann), Daniel Bruhl (Hubertus Czernin), Katie Holmes (Pam Schoenberg), Max Irons (Frederick “Fritz” Altmann), and Charles Dance (Sherman).
“Woman in Gold” is a dramatization of a true story that’s given authenticity and emotion through the great acting of its two leads. While the story itself isn’t something special, the performances are stellar. And it’s this huge contrast in quality between scripting and acting that wastes a good chance at making an impactful film.
Highlights
Helen Mirren’s stirring performance as Maria Altmann
There’s no doubt that Maria Altmann is a strong and determined woman, as evidenced by her courage and resolve to flee to America, and then her quest to recover her aunt’s paintings. But it is also softened with signs of Maria’s maternal, caring nature (from her interactions with Randy) and her rare moments of vulnerability and despair. Helen Mirren’s balanced portrayal gives us a picture of a woman who’s driven by conviction, yet suffers from the same doubts and frailties as the rest of us, resulting in a sympathetic and convincing protagonist.
Ryan Reynolds’ surprisingly touching turn as Randy Schoenberg
In a break from his usual roles, Ryan Reynolds plays the meek but stubborn lawyer Randy. I had my doubts at first too, since the meek, soft spoken aspect of the character didn’t quite gel with the usual image that Ryan Reynolds has. But his character eventually grew on us and we looked past the veneer of the actor to see a character that we genuinely rooted for to win. His circumstances and altruistic intentions touched us, and made us want to see his eventual triumph over the antagonists.
Engaging flashbacks to the Holocaust
Driven by an incisive comment by a minor character to Maria, the flashbacks feel especially poignant since it shows us how much the paintings mean to her. You feel young Maria’s tension and worry as she escapes the tyranny of the Nazis, and this is echoed in the present day when once again, she tries to escape the tyranny of the museum that holds her paintings.
Letdowns
Poor storytelling
There’s no getting away from the fact that the pace of the movie is abysmal. It’s a lumbering beast that could have been trimmed at so many points, but none more than the snooze worthy first Act. Conflicts are dragged out long after the impact is lost, and scenes take forever to play out. There’s no sense of urgency or time to the film, which results in a movie that drags us across a lackluster story for close to two hours.
Meaningless climax
The climax of the film doesn’t come when you’d expect, and there are no setups for how the characters behave. Tears are suddenly shed and harsh words come out of nowhere, resulting in a contrived confrontation that’s thrown in just because it’s time for a climax. There are no consequences to the conflict either, and it’s forgotten ten minutes later when everyone makes up. This is a scene that could have been cut for brevity, and would have added so much more tightness and coherence to the story.
Tries too hard to be metaphorical and symbolic
While the parallels between the past conflict and present struggles of Maria are clear, the film tries too hard to expand the symbolism of Maria’s conflict. Towards the end, the paintings are suddenly presented as symbols of liberation in terms of visuals, and this feels like a forced attempt to add artistic elements to the film. The movie was doing just fine until this artificially generated symbolism reared its ugly head, tainting the entire meaning of the paintings.
“Woman in Gold” has good performances from its leads, but this marred by a lackluster script that bores you to death with sluggish storytelling. It’s a pity that more effort wasn’t put into the script writing, because even an average script would have been amazing in the hands of Helen Mirren and Ryan Reynolds.
“Woman in Gold” opens in cinemas 27 August, 2015 (Thursday).
This review was also published on Yahoo.
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