Woman In Gold

Synopsis:The true story of Viennese-born American, Maria Altmann (Helen Mirren), who enlisted the help of Californian lawyer, Randy Schoenberg (Ryan Reynolds), to sue the Austrian government over artwork that was stolen from her family during World War II, notably the portrait of her aunt, Adele Bloch-Bauer, painted by Gustav Klimt.

In the hands of a more accomplished screenwriter Woman In Gold could have been an Oscar contender. It is essentially a David versus Goliath tale of a determined woman who with the help of an inexperienced family relative who happens to not only a lawyer but the grandson of Austrian Jewish composer, Arnold Schoenberg, takes on the Austrian government in search of justice and a painting to which she holds an emotional connection, regardless of its multi-million dollar value.

Writer Alexi Kaye Campbell and director Simon Curtis bring the past to life with flashback sequences showcasing the opulent lifestyle of wealthy a wealthy Jewish family of 1930s Vienna. There, artists. musicians and scholars intermingled against the backdrop of rising anti-Semitism and political unrest. This is exquisitely done so much so that when it comes to the modern day interaction between Altmann and her lawyer we long for Secessionist Vienna instead of  Ryan Reynolds' brown suits and beige performance.

Nazis and their Austrian collaborators aside, the narrative in Woman In Gold is reminiscent of 2012's Philomena in its portrayal of an odd couple, a younger man and an older woman, who team up to fight the powers-that-be. But where Judi Dench and Steven Coogan warmed the screen and the audience's hearts with their developing bond, each enabling growth in the other, the chemistry between Reynolds and Mirren never ignites.

The problem lies in a lacklustre, formulaic script that merely checks the boxes: the old woman overcomes a fear of her past while the young man who has forgotten his own history redeems himself. A wooden performance from Reynolds and an unusually one-dimensional performance by Mirren,who appears to be focusing too heavily on channeling her inner, uptight Austrian Jewess, leave the film devoid of emotion, Curtis's manipulatively sentimental direction notwithstanding.

Still, Woman In Gold is undoubtedly worth the ticket price if only for its revealing exposé of wartime art thefts and the reluctance on the part of modern governments to face these crimes.

 

 

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