Great Story, Conventionally Constructed

Rating: 8/10 (19 April 2015)

While watching "The Woman in Gold," the new film from director Simon Curtis, I was constantly reminded of a few other films. Namely, "The Monuments Men," "Titanic," and "Saving Mr. Banks." This was mainly because of similar story lines. Whether it be restitution of art stolen by Nazis, flashbacks to the tragic love story of an old woman, or a woman brought to Los Angeles for unwanted reasons, I kept returning to other Hollywood films I had seen, and that was the main downfall with this film
The film shifts between 1998 and the Holocaust-era as we follow Maria Altmann (Helen Mirren.) After her sister's death, she realizes that a famous family artwork was taken by Nazis and put in a museum in her home country of Austria. She recruits and up-and-coming lawyer, Randy Schoenberg (Ryan Reynolds), who also has an Austrian lineage, to help her find a legal way to have the piece returned to her.
To Randy, the case is about the money. The artwork is worth millions of dollars and he thinks of it as a way to bring him to the top of the legal world in L.A. But to Maria, it has nothing to do with the money. Her aunt is the woman portrayed in the painting, and she was very important to her. It is also a portal to Maria's deceased family, as she and her husband were able to escape Nazi reign whereas other family members weren't so lucky. There is a flashback to a scene between a young Maria and her aunt. They are looking at the painting and Maria asks why there is so much gold, to which the aunt says not to look at the gold, but at the face. This encapsulates what this film is about, and the roles of young Maria and her aunt can be directly related to older Maria and Randy. It's not about the money or even what the money says; it's about Maria getting justice for the crime committed against her family.
The film does many things right. The plot itself is intriguing and demands the attention of the artist. The pairing of Mirren and Reynolds is priceless, and the two play their roles brilliantly. This may be the best we've seen from Reynolds, and Hellen Mirren is...well...Hellen Mirren. The script is fine, save for a few cliché "inspirational speech" scenes and the nonlinear storytelling allows us to relate to Maria and sympathize for her.
Despite all the rights, their are elements of the film that keep it from achieving "great" status. The huge problem is that the film is so conventional; there are things in this film that you can see in nearly every Hollywood film, which may be part of the reason it reminded me of so many others. There are no risks taking in the editing, and it is shot so safely. As aforementioned, there are those dramatic, emotional, and ultimately unneeded speeches and scenes that make the film somewhat cliché. So many times it seems like the director is trying to clinch every little emotion out of us, and it can get exhausting at times. A number of these come from Randy's wife, played Katie Holmes, who sometimes drove me crazy with the sentimentality. Another thing that drove me crazy involved an element of Maria. While she was very likable about 80 percent of the time, there were those scenes where she claims they should just give up. It happens a good four or five times, and it makes it hard to root for someone who seems so undetermined. I don't know if this is what she was really like, but if it is, this is a place where Curtis could have taken a little liberty.
Despite its struggles, "The Woman in Gold" tackles its topic with a certain conviction. Here is a real-life man and woman who beat the odds, take on an entire government, and learn to work together as wonderful companions. The transformation of Reynolds' character is unbelievable to watch and Maria's story is one for the ages. The truth is that it is a very good film that could have been great had Simon Curtis chosen to take more risks and be a little more unconventional.