The Danish Girl

Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Alicia Vikander, Amber Heard, Ben Whishaw, Matthias Schoenaerts, Adrian Schiller
Directed by: Tom Hooper
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Romance
2015

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A Danish artist (Eddie Redmayne) relies on his wife's support as he undergoes a transgender journey towards discovering and celebrating who she really is.

Review:

Tim: I just couldn't get into The Danish Girl. It feels like an important movie, it won an Academy Award, it was one of the more talked about films of the year. I get all that, but I just couldn't get into the characters or their plight. I completely respect the story and the importance of a film like this to the transgender community, but I think critics got caught up in the fact that they were "supposed" to like this film. It comes from award-winning director Tom Hooper, features an Academy Award winner in the lead role, and tackles a controversial subject that is important for humanity to acknowledge and accept. This is the ideal Oscar bait movie. I have to believe to some extent, critics got caught up in that.

As for me, I was quite honestly bored with the whole thing. I normally despise when people cite "boredom" as a complaint for a movie. Oftentimes, that means you weren't paying attention or didn't go into the film with an open mind. I tried hard with both those things, but the movie just plugs along at a sluggish pace. I never felt an emotional connection with the characters. While I appreciated and respected their journey and the challenges they faced, I couldn't connect with them. I get that Lili was dealing with a lot- I can't even pretend to imagine what her experience was like. And yet, in the movie, she acted terribly as she sought to discover herself. She cheated on her wife and asked her wife to endure more than any woman should. She was supremely focused on herself and wouldn't do the smallest thing to help the one person who stood by her through everything. Maybe that's part of the true story, but it certainly didn't endear the main character to me. It was hard for me to care about her feelings when she came across as a selfish person. Maybe that's normal when your whole identity is shattered and you are trying to build it back up, but it doesn't make for a relatable character.

Eddie Redmayne was very good in the lead role. I believe he's a talented actor, but I couldn't shake the feeling that he KNEW he was in a controversial, challenging role. His mannerisms speak to that. It's one thing to approach this authentically, wanting to tell this story for the sake of the story. I have to believe Redmayne knew this would be a much talked-about role, especially coming off his Academy Award win. Perhaps that's not a big deal, but it made the film slightly less enjoyable to me. Alicia Vikander was very good- it's stunning how she appeared out of nowhere in a number of the biggest films of 2015. She's going to be a real force in Hollywood for a long time. I enjoyed her performance, although I didn't quite love it. I wouldn't complain about her winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, though. She was good enough to deserve it.

The supporting cast was mixed. Amber Heard continues to do nothing for me and brought her lack of talent to the forefront in her small role. I love Ben Whishaw- the guy continues to hit it out of the park every time he shows up. He doesn't have much to do here, but he's memorable with every second of his screen time. I also liked Matthias Schoenaerts. I've seen him in two films now and enjoyed his performance in both. He's someone to keep an eye on.

I wouldn't fault anyone too strongly for liking this movie. I get the appeal and if you got caught up in the story and characters, I can see how one would enjoy it. I personally struggled to get invested in the proceedings, which made the 2 hour run time feel much longer. I recognize many of the film's strengths, but the weaknesses were too much for me to ignore. I won't like a movie because I'm "supposed" to like it. The Danish Girl is a decent movie, but it's miles and miles away from being among the best of 2015.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



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