Very basic with no thrills! 3/10

Rating: 3/10 (9 August 2015)

Review: After watching half an hour of this film, I totally lost interest in the whole plot and I fell asleep a couple of times. It's not that the performances were bad because I really liked Maria Altmann, played by Helen Mirren and the storyline was quite interesting but I just couldn't get into it. Its about a Jewish lady called Maria Altmann who hires her friends son Randy Schoenberg (Ryan Reynolds), to get back a painting which was stolen by the Nazis during World War II. Whilst searching for the evidence to prove that the famous Gustav Klimt painting of the her aunt was rightfully hers and that it didn't belong in a Austrian gallery, the trail leads to Austria were they have to hunt through loads of documentation to retrieve the Austrian treasure. None of the Austrians want to help Maria because they truly believe that it belongs in there country, so after trying many methods to get there case heard, they end up back in American, disheartened by the results. With the determination of Randy, he finds a loophole in the law which makes him risk everything to get the case heard. When all of the evidence is eventually put in front of a judge, it turns into a court drama which could have had more depth, after watching over an hours worth of investigating. I did like the chemistry between Mirren and Reynolds but Reynolds didn't seem like he was fully committed to the role. Mirren on the other hand, was brilliant and she really did make the film watchable even though I did drift off a couple of times. Anyway, I was hoping for a bit more from this film but it just turned out to be very basic and boring in parts. Average!
Round-Up: At 70 years old, Mirren is definitely looking pretty impressive for her age and her performances seem to be getting better. She still has another 3 movies in the pipeline which include Trumbo starring Bryan Cranston and Eye in the Sky with Alan Rickman so she's not ready to retire to live off of her pension just yet. Ryan Reynolds seems to dip in and out of comedic and action roles, from the Change Up to the Safe House and now he's added drama with this movie. His next couple of movies, Captive and Self/Less are thrillers so he really is covering every genre in his career. I do enjoy watching these two actors but I really couldn't get into this one. This is the second movie from director Simon Curtis who also brought you My Week With Marilyn, which I also didn't enjoy. He usually makes TV series, which explains why I didn't like the pace and the tone of this movie. In all, it is a watchable film, just because of Mirren but you are left feeling pretty empty because of the predictable storyline and straight laced script. On the plus side, it did make more than double its budget so there must have been audiences that were touched by the subject matter.
Budget: $11million Worldwide Gross: $51million
I recommend this movie to people who are into their emotional dramas about a woman whose trying to retrieve a painting which was stolen by the Nazis during World War II. 3/10