The Fate Of History Decided In Court... "Denial"

Denial (2016)

Rated PG-13

Starring Rachel Weisz, Tom Wilkinson, Timothy Spall

Directed by Mick Jackson

The Story:

Historian and author Deborah Lipstadt (Weisz) is accused of libel by historian David Irving (Spall). He makes the accusation in England, where Deborah is forced to prove that Irving's claims are false. With Richard Rampton (Wilkinson) and his team on her side, she must prove that Irving's claims that the Holocaust never happened are patently false.

If she should fail, then the British government will be forced to rule that the Holocaust never happened.

How's that for a high stakes game of  Law & Order?

It's a fascinating, and sad, story to be told.

How anyone could deny what happened during World War II is unfathomable to begin with. To do so as an author and historian seems incredible to believe.  But here it is.

And did I mention it was based on the real court case that happened in the late 90s?

Because if I didn't, well, it was.

The entire existence of whether or not the Holocaust ever occurred was played out in an English courtroom.

To make things even more challenging, Rampton refused to let Leipstadt or any Holocaust survivors even testify.

They refused to give Irving any ability to question, interrogate, harass and belittle any survivor, as he was very much a "shock and awe" public speaker.

Instead, they would use his own words against him whenever possible, and rely on historical fact and inaccuracies in Irving's own published words against him to win the case.

If you're up for a good legal thriller, look no further.

Final Grade:  B

Righting History's Wrongs..."Woman In Gold"

Woman In Gold (2015)

Rated PG-13

Starring Helen Mirren, Ryan Reynolds, Daniel Bruhl, Katie Holmes, Tatiana Maslany, Max Irons

Directed by Simon Curtis

The Story:

Maria Altmann (Mirren) decides after the passing of her sister that she should attempt to reclaim a painting of her aunt that was stolen by the Nazis during WWII. The problem, it's been hanging in a museum in Austria for decades, and they aren't interested in giving it back. She enlists a young lawyer (Reynolds) to help her. The two set out on an uphill battle to reclaim what was stolen from them decades earlier.

Here's a sweet little movie that's base on a true story.

Through flashbacks that show Maria (Maslany) attempting to escape the Nazis after they invaded Austria, the viewers get to know her and her family's story.

That the portrait of her aunt was stolen by the Nazis is criminal, what the Austrian government did with the painting in the decades that followed was genuinely unforgivable as well.

That's where this movie shines, in the David vs. Goliath scenarios where they take on the Austrian government to correct this historical inaccuracy.

I wanted to like this movie more than I did, but the pacing of the film is a bit on the slow side, which is saying something for a movie that goes past the 90 minute mark of most movies but falls short of the 2 hour running time for most dramas.

Still an enjoyable movie to say the least, and the performances are very well done, which is always the case with Mirren. It's nice, if odd, to see Reynolds as a bit of a timid nerd who doesn't have the snarky comebacks that we've come to expect of Ryan Reynolds, or any character played by Ryan Reynolds.

Plus, I know I badmouth other films for excessive use of language which makes movies that could be PG-13 into R rated films, so I would like to commend the writers/director here for dropping only 1 f-bomb in the movie, and when it hits, it resonates. You can feel the frustration of the character.

That's how language is supposed to work, and shows how effective a good script that doesn't consider profanity as necessary as nouns and verbs can be.

Bravo.

Final Grade: B