THE DANISH GIRL: some highlights but overall meh

Eddie Redmayne in THE DANISH GIRL
Eddie Redmayne in THE DANISH GIRL

The melodramatic docudrama The Danish Girl is based on the real life of Einar Wegener/Lili Elbe, one of the first people to receive sexual reassignment surgery.  We begin with a devoted and playful young married couple of Danish painters in the 1920s (Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander).  He is a moderately successful landscape painter, and she is a struggling portraitist.  As they experiment with sexual role-playing, his self-identification as a woman named Lili is revealed, and their journey continues though his-to-her transgender metamorphosis through the groundbreaking surgery.

There’s a point when he starts acting out his gender identification in ways that are not okay with her, and this is the best part of the film.  Vikander plays a woman who is sexually ahead of her time, but anyone would be knocked for a loop when their partner switches genders.  It doesn’t help when Lili addresses her very real yearnings with a substantial degree of selfishness.

But then The Danish Girl starts dragging and then ultimately grinds into boredom and predictability.  The movie keeps hammering us with the wife’s devoted support of her transforming spouse, the secret they strive to maintain, yada yada.  Tom Hooper, the director of The King’s Speech and the literally miserable Les Miserables, is technically quite good; he also knows how to make a movie pretentious and ponderous.  There’s probably a better 90-minute movie embedded in The Danish Girl’s 119 minutes.

Vikander is just outstanding as the wife.  Redmayne also nails his role, a part every bit as showy as in The Theory of Everything.  Matthias Schoenaerts, Amber Heard and Ben Whislaw are excellent in supporting roles.  Sebastian Koch, who is always good, is also solid in a secondary role.

The costumes in The Danish Girl are exquisite.  The early hints as to his gender identification come with his attraction to the fabric and design of fine clothes.  Then Lili  expresses her femininity through ever more ravishing and flamboyant fashion.  All of the clothes are beautiful to look at, from Vikander’s new nightgown to the dapper suits and cravats on Matthias Schoennaerts.   In the second half of the film, Vikander wears a turquoise dress with a vertical decorative panel that is a masterpiece of art deco design.

Excellent acting, phenomenal costumes and some riveting early scenes.  Then meh.

DVD/Stream of the Week: THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING – things gets complicated for Mr. and Mrs. Genius

Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne in THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING

The Theory of Everything is based on the book by the woman who married Stephen Hawking – and this is important. While the story of Stephen Hawking – a generational genius who becomes physically disabled but continues his groundbreaking work – is pretty amazing, the story of the two of them facing this journey together brings more depth and texture to the tale. And, since everybody is somewhat familiar with the arc of Stephen Hawking’s career, the added focus on Jane Hawking brings some unpredictability to the plot.

The role of Stephen is one that many actors would kill for, and Eddie Redmayne delivers an exceptionally good performance. You may remember Redmayne’s solid turn in a good movie, My Week with Marilyn, and that he was one of the few highlights in the otherwise dreadful Les Miserables.

Felicity Jones’s performance as Jane stands up to Redmayne’s. She masks her profound inner strength with adorability. She was very good in Like Crazy, a romance that I really liked, although NONE of my readers did.

It’s worth mentioning that The Theory of Everything was directed by James Marsh, because he’s on a helluva storytelling run: the acclaimed documentaries Man on a Wire and Project Nim and last year’s overlooked thriller Shadow Dancer.

All told, The Theory of Everything has a compelling story with two fine performances, which adds up to a satisfying moviegoing experience.  It’s available on DVD from Netflix and streaming from Amazon Instant Video, iTunes, YouTube, Google Play and Xbox Video.

THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING: things get complicated for Mr. and Mrs. Genius

Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne in THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING

The Theory of Everything is based on the book by the woman who married Stephen Hawking – and this is important.  While the story of Stephen Hawking – a generational genius who becomes physically disabled but continues his groundbreaking work – is pretty amazing, the story of the two of them facing this journey together brings more depth and texture to the tale.  And, since everybody is somewhat familiar with the arc of Stephen Hawking’s career, the added focus on Jane Hawking brings some unpredictability to the plot.

The role of Stephen is one that many actors would kill for, and Eddie Redmayne  delivers an exceptionally good performance.  You may remember Redmayne’s solid turn in a good movie, My Week with Marilyn, and that he was one of the few highlights in the otherwise dreadful Les Miserables.

Felicity Jones’s performance as Jane stands up to Redmayne’s.  She masks her profound inner strength with adorability.  She was very good in Like Crazy, a romance that I really liked, although NONE of my readers did.

It’s worth mentioning that The Theory of Everything was directed by James Marsh, because he’s on a helluva storytelling run: the acclaimed documentaries Man on a Wire and Project Nim and last year’s overlooked thriller Shadow Dancer.

All told, The Theory of Everything has a compelling story with two fine performances, which adds up to a satisfying moviegoing experience.

Les Miserables: Now I’m miserable, too

Let’s get this out of the way first – having neither seen nor desired to see the Broadway musical Les Miserables, I am not the target audience for this movie.  I don’t care for melodramas – and Les Mis is two melodramas in one – the story of the saintly Jean Valjean being chased for decades by the monomaniacal Javert and a romance between two kids.  So I was mostly bored.  If, however, you love Les Mis, you’ll probably enjoy this long, long, lavish all-star effort from director Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech, The Damned United, John Adams).

The cast is mostly excellent.  Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, Eddie Redmayne (My Week with Marilyn), Amanda Seyfried, Samantha Barks and Aaron Tveit are all excellent singers and give outstanding performances.  Redmayne is exceptional.  Sasha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter are very funny in the comic roles (the highlight of the movie for lowbrow me). The other lead is Russell Crowe, who really can’t match the singing ability of the other actors, which is a distraction.

Hooper has made the costumes and make-up very realistic for the filthy and scabby period.  This, for me, was jarring when juxtaposed against the artificiality of the characters breaking into song and some very cheesy CGI sets.

Now here’s one of my pet peeves – movies that should be over but linger like an unwanted guest.  Here, both of the plot threads (the chase and the romance) are resolved, yet the movie goes on for three more songs, including a death scene and the stirring finale.  Aaaack.