Second time unlucky for Redmayne

Rating: 2/10 (27 January 2018)

THE DANISH GIRL is a surprisingly unworkable historical drama from the director behind THE KING'S SPEECH. It's about a Danish couple whose loves were thrown into turmoil by the husband's decision to transition into a woman in an era when such a thing was unheard of. Based on a true story, this is notable for featuring big name actor Eddie Redmayne trying to recapture some of the glory he gained in playing Stephen Hawking in THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING, but it's second time unlucky for the actor. Where his performance as Hawking convinced, here he seems extremely superficial, merely fluttering his eyelashes a lot in his attempt to convince as a woman born in a man's body. The whole thing is slow and dragged out to a turgid pace, and all of the cast feel icy cold and unsympathetic. Alicia Vikander is miscast as the wife and looks and acts like a petulant child for a lot of the running time. It's an unremarkable film I really struggled to finish.