The true-story based drama "Woman in Gold" did not deserve any gold medals, but was bronzely deserved as solid cinematic offering. Helen Mirren stars as Maria Altmann, an older woman who was a Jewish refugee in her homeland of Austria. Her aunt Adele Bloch-Bauer sang the original version of Adele's "Hello"; not even Lionel Richie sang it better! Hello! Hello! Are you still there? Please don't say goodbye yet to my review of "Woman in Gold". In all seriousness, Adele Bloch- Bauer was the subject of an infamous painting during the 1940's. However, that painting and much artwork of Maria's family was seized by the Nazis in Germany-occupied Austria. During the late 1990's after a few occurrences including a deep letter from her deceased aunt Adele, Maria decides that it's time to get what is rightfully hers; most notably the startling "Woman in Gold" painting, in that time displayed in an Austrian museum. So Maria hires a nice young Jewish lawyer named Randy Schoenberg, and their fight for art-recovery justice is in full plight as they tackle many obstacles, most notably the Austrian government, to recover to Maria what is rightfully hers. Director Simon Curtis does hold par in his orchestration of the picture, even though Simon says way too many times what is obvious. Alexi Kaye Campbell's screenplay was moderate at best, but shined brightly within Maria's charismatic dialogue. Helen Mirren did shine with a golden performance as Maria, and Ryan Reynolds deserved a silver-thespian medal with his work as Randy Schoenberg. "Woman in Gold" does paint a pretty picture on art justice, and though not perfect, still deserves a look. *** Average
Review of Woman in Gold
