compelling story

Rating: 8/10 (7 November 2015)

Maria Altman (Helen Mirren) loses her sister Luise and is left to take care of the family legacy. Randy Schoenberg (Ryan Reynolds) is a struggling lawyer heavily in debt after a failed upstart. They are both from famous Vienna families and share losses to the Nazis. He reluctantly meets Maria as a favor to his mother. Maria had lost many in her family and most of their possessions. The most prominent is a picture of her aunt painted by Klimt worth over $100 million.
This is a compelling story with Helen Mirren going great work once again. I love that neither leads are that driven to get restitution. She's reluctant to go back to Austria and he's in it more for the money in the beginning. They are true underdogs. Tatiana Maslany is also impressive as the younger Maria. Ryan Reynolds is a little flat at the beginning and he shouldn't joke around in the later sections. He may not be a great fit for the character. The story is very compelling and intriguing. There are usually differences from the real story. The only one that irked me a little is the discussion of money. In the beginning, Maria claims she's not selling the painting making it more of a principle of justice. In the end, she obviously sold some of the paintings. I don't have a problem with selling but the film shouldn't suggest that it's not about the money.