Maria Altmann, an octogenarian Jewish refugee, takes on the government to recover artwork she believes rightfully belongs to her family.
Even with a starry cast, the stirring true story is this drama’s standout feature.
A plodding, predictable script hampers this tale of a real-life legal battle. But it’s redeemed by a vital central performance – and some vivid flashbacks.
Curtis’ film stumbles in its digressions, lacking clear direction, along with the emotional impact it so desperately needs.
Even Helen Mirren, in strange contact lenses, can’t banish the whiff of cheese from this badly acted and badly written film.
There is something a little cosy about the storytelling – an emphasis on Maria's eccentricity and Randy's scattiness – that risks diminishing the emotional impact of some dark themes.
Pretty much anyone who stands in the way of Maria's impossible dream is a knave and a villain and everything is designed to ensure our sympathies are very much on her side. But the result is still an absorbing and often very moving tale.
It is absorbing and, come the ending, unexpectedly moving.
A woman fights the Austrian government to win back a Nazi-looted Klimt painting in this bland take on a true story.
General release. Check local listings for show times.
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