The Danish Girl

My first review of 2016! I figured since I had Friday off I would use that time to catch up on some of the Oscar type movies, starting with The Danish Girl. Maybe I'm in the minority but I actually like director Tom Hooper. I especially loved his movie The King's Speech.  So I was very interested in seeing this despite some of the negative reviews. So what's my opinion? Well, I don't think it's as bad as people are saying. However, it's not great either. It's just okay. 

The Danish Girl tells the story of Einar Wegener/Lili Elbe (Eddie Redmayne), one of the first transgender people to undergo sex reassignment surgery, and her wife Gerda (Alicia Vikander). It's a true story but from what I've read the movie is a highly fictionalized account of their marriage. But that's not what really bothered me. 

It's a very pretty movie. There's lots of beautiful images of trees, clouds, etc. Very much style over substance. Which is a shame because it's an interesting story and they could have done so much with it. At the same time, Tom Hooper is trying way too hard. This movie is the very definition of Oscar bait. 

The saving grace for me was the acting. Eddie Redmayne is a talented actor and he does a good job here, but I don't think he should win Best Actor again. Nominated sure. I swear if he wins over Leonardo DiCaprio I'm going to scream. Anyway, I found myself not caring as much about Einar/Lili. I was much more interested in Gerda. Alicia Vikander gives a wonderful performance. This is just as much her movie as it is Eddie Redmayne's. 

If you really want to see this movie wait til it comes to Netflix. It's not that I don't recommend it. I just don't think it's worth the money seeing it in theaters. 

My Rating: 6.5/10