Redmayne and Vikander deliver incredible performances

Rating: 8/10 (19 February 2016)

There's no denying 'The Danish Girl' is carried by the two lead actors. It's on OK script dealing with an interesting subject but these two, Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander, delivering the performances they did certainly helped the watch-ability factor. The subject of transgender people isn't always an easy one to understand or deal with and I suspect people who didn't like the film likely fall into the category of finding it an uncomfortable watch. The main reason it's uncomfortable is because Redmayne is so damn good. The man can act, there's simply no denying that.
Getting one Oscar worthy performance in a film is an accomplishment, two though is astonishing. Both Redmayne and Vikander have been nominated for Academy Awards, Redmayne in a Lead Role, Vikander in a Supporting Role (the latter's category being quite contentious considering she had more screen time than Redmayne did). The scary fact is that they're both good enough to win too, or at least they would be if a certain man called Leonardo DiCaprio wasn't in the running. DiCaprio has the award locked up sadly, but I truly believe Redmayne was better in his actual acting performance. DiCaprio is getting the award for the sacrifices he made for his role and the commitment it took. However, if you took two average movie viewers and gave them no background about either actor and asked them which performance they found better, I think a very high percentage would pick Redmayne. He won last year with an incredible performance and deserved to do so again this year in my opinion.
Vikander on the other hand I suspect will win, and deservedly so. This was the first film I had ever seen her in and she blew me away. Her presence on screen was immense and her performance showed all the layers of a truly great actress. The only thing marring her nomination is whether she should be in the Supporting Actress category or not. I would have to agree she probably should not have been. I kept thinking to myself she must somehow exit this film halfway through in order for it to classify as 'Supporting'. However she did not and while I hate to take away from an undoubtedly great performance, it is hard for others in the category to compete when they are getting much less screen time.
The film wasn't nominated for Best Picture despite being right up the alley for that type of nod. The story isn't entirely fact based and is more a work of fiction based on true characters, which may have hurt it. It also, as previously mentioned, isn't the easiest subject for everyone to stomach. All things aside though I'd have to say I enjoyed it a lot more than a few other films that did get a Best Picture nod. No one's complaining too much that it's not there it seems, but make no mistake, it's a fine film.