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"That's quite a painting," someone says in "Woman in Gold" on first glimpsing Gustav Klimt's celebrated "Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I," and anyone seeing the artwork in person during its brief visit to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art or at its current home at New York's Neue Galerie would have to agree.

The saga of how this dazzling work, sometimes known as "the Mona Lisa of Austria," came to leave the walls of Vienna's august Belvedere Gallery to take up permanent residence in the United States is quite a story as well.

And, as the fact that three documentaries touch on its narrative makes clear, any tale involving art history, Nazi thievery, conflicting wills and complex international legal wrangles is certainly worthy of cinematic treatment.

With all these good things going for it, it's regrettable that "Woman in Gold" is no more than adequate, more old-fashioned Hollywoodization than incisive modern dramatization. But the film does have an asset that can't be ignored, and that's Helen Mirren's tip-top performance as the film's costar. It's not enough to save the picture, but it certainly makes a difference.

Mirren stars as Maria Altmann, Adele Bloch-Bauer's niece, an imperious Los Angeles matron we first meet in 1998, burying her only sister in a local cemetery. After the service, Maria reconnects with an old friend and fellow Austrian, emigre Barbara Schoenberg (Frances Fisher), the daughter-in-law of the great composer Arnold Schoenberg.

It turns out that Maria is in need of a lawyer she can trust, and Barbara's son Randol, aka Randy, the composer's grandson, is a struggling local lawyer in desperate need of a significant case. It sounds like a match made in heaven except that for quite some time it's anything but.

CLOSE

One of the things that makes this a story of interest is that, even though its ending was a glorious one, not only was its outcome uncertain for years but also its two main participants were not always eager to collaborate.

For one thing, Maria, interested in the return of five Klimt paintings, including the "Adele" portrait, that the Nazis seized from her family, is looking for an expert in art restitution, an area Randy (a game but overmatched Ryan Reynolds) knows nothing about.

Randy, for his part, is just starting a new job (Charles Dance is his no-nonsense boss) and a family (Katie Holmes is the standard-issue, mostly understanding wife), and has no time for a wild goose chase, especially in the company of a woman whose manner he clearly finds off-putting.

Audiences, however, will likely feel otherwise about Maria Altmann. Though this kind of bossy performance can be viewed as falling off a log for Mirren, the actress expertly creates Maria's Mittel-European hauteur and leavens it with enough humanity to give the film an integrity it definitely needs.

Max Irons and Tatiana Maslany (Photo: Provided)

Not that director Simon Curtis and screenwriter Alexi Kaye Campbell don't try hard (maybe too hard) for significance and heft. There are several German-language flashbacks to the family's time in Vienna, most effectively to the days when Maria was a child (Tatiana Maslany) and the favorite niece of her aunt Adele (Antje Traue.)

Once the Nazis come to power in Austria, however, the scenes of storm-trooper depredation can't avoid a standard-issue feeling and remind us that Curtis' earlier "My Week With Marilyn" felt similarly pro forma despite another strong lead performance, in this case from Oscar-nominated Michelle Williams.
MORE MOVIES: Read a review of "Furious 7"
Back in the present, Randy finally gets interested in the case, initially because he spies a potential payday. Despite the general feeling that paintings that get to be refrigerator magnets do not often leave their home countries, he persuades Maria to come back to Vienna with him and pursue the case.

Things get increasingly complex legally from here on in, with everything from an appearance by U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist (Jonathan Pryce) to discussions of the relevance of the little-known Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act figuring in the mix.

Even without including speculation about a possible Klimt/Adele relationship or acknowledging the controversy around how Adele and family eventually disposed of the paintings, there is enough incident here to support a film. You just wish "Woman in Gold" was a better one.

2 1/2 stars out of 4

Stars: Helen Mirren, Ryan Reynolds, Charles Dance, Katie Holmes, Jonathan Pryce

Rated: PG-13 (1:50)

MPAA rating: PG-13 for some thematic elements and brief, strong language

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"That's quite a painting," someone says in "Woman in Gold" on first glimpsing Gustav Klimt's celebrated "Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I," and anyone seeing the artwork in person during its brief visit to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art or at its current home at New York's Neue Galerie would have to agree.

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Before Helen Mirren agreed to play elderly Jewish World War Two refugee Maria Altmann in the new film "Woman in Gold," the Academy Award-winning actress checked the last page of the screenplay to see if the character was there.

It's a trick Mirren learnt early in her career. Altmann's character was at the end of the screenplay of the film about her life that opens in U.S. theatres on Wednesday.

"All the good roles are on the last page and if they are not on the last page, they have to have a good exit. I've always done that," Mirren, 69, said in an interview.

"If it just sort of disappears, it is a hopeless role. It is not worth doing. It is not worth reading the script."

The film tells the story of Altmann's against-the-odds battle with the Austrian government to regain paintings by artist Gustav Klimt that the Nazis stole from her family during World War Two.

The most famous of the works, "Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I," was a 1907 oil and gold painting of Altmann's aunt.

"She was amazing. I wish I could have met her," Mirren said about the feisty Altmann, who died in 2011 at the age of 94. "It is a lovely story of triumph by an older woman. There are not many of those stories around."

KEEPING ALIVE THE MEMORY

Altmann was in her 80s and living in California when she enlisted the help of a young lawyer and family friend, E. Randol Schoenberg, played by actor Ryan Reynolds, to get back the painting from the Austrian government that ended up with the work.

Mirren, now starring on Broadway as Queen Elizabeth II in "The Audience," said the most challenging thing about playing Altmann was capturing her essence and the deepness of what she had experienced.

"I had to live in her mind and in her memory and that is what I tried to do," she explained.

Using flashbacks "Woman is Gold" shifts back in time to Altmann's childhood when the painting hung in her home. Canadian actress Tatiana Maslany plays the young Altmann, who flees with her husband to escape the Nazis.

Altmann and Schoenberg submitted their case to binding arbitration in Austria, where a panel of judges decided in 2006 that the works should be restored to their rightful heirs.

Cosmetics heir Ronald S. Lauder bought the portrait from Altmann the same year for his Neue Galerie in New York for $135 million, a record price for a painting at the time.

Mirren hopes "Woman in Gold" will remind audiences of the hardship and suffering people endured during the war.

"Hopefully it will bring the memory of it and carry it on a little further and show people you can fight against the odds and sometimes, occasionally, brilliantly, miraculously win," she said.

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Helen Mirren fights to rescue stolen art in 'Woman in Gold'

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Before Helen Mirren agreed to play elderly Jewish World War Two refugee Maria Altmann in the new film "Woman in Gold," the Academy Award-winning actress checked the last page of the screenplay to see if the character was there. It's a trick Mirren learnt early in her career.

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Wednesday

After slogging through an hour or so of set-up, exposition and prosaic dialogue, "Woman in Gold" finally finds its footing. You stick with it for three reasons: the fact-based story about recovering stolen art works is compelling; Helen Mirren is terrific at displaying the required moxie to reclaim it; and the hope is that her co-star, Ryan Reynolds, will bare his chiseled abs. The latter never happens, but that's not the film's only disappointment.

As directed by Simon Curtis ("My Week With Marilyn"), from a screenplay by first-timer Alexi Kaye Campbell, this is an over-earnest telling of Austrian Maria Altmann's fight to reclaim a valuable portrait stolen from her family by the Nazis. The performances by Mirren ("The Queen") as Altman and Reynolds ("The Proposal") as her game but inexperienced attorney, Randy Schoenberg, prop up a weak script that has the actors repeating variations of the theme, "I have to do what I can to keep these memories alive." It's all bathed in a soft movie-of-the-week glow.

Mirren and the Reynolds have an affable screen charm. The usual wisecracking Reynolds, at first glance, seems miscast, but he gets better. Though, even with wire-rimmed glasses, he's still too WASPy and Hollywood handsome to play Schoenberg. Their battle with the Austrian government over Klimt's iconic painting, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I ("the Mona Lisa of Austria"), takes them from Los Angeles to Vienna, where the painting hangs in the Belvedere Museum, to ultimately the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court. Along this 10-year journey, Maria is forced to confront difficult truths about her past.

In flashbacks, a young Maria is portrayed by Tatiana Maslany ("Orphan Black"). Ample time is given to Maria's youth. We see her as a shy child in awe of her beautiful aunt (Antje Traue), the subject of the Klimt painting. We celebrate her wedding to opera singer Fritz (Max Irons). We also witness the seizure of her family's possessions - paintings, jewelry, silver - and her daring escape from Nazi occupied Vienna. Those scenes, while pat, do elicit some emotion, especially the sentimental ending.

What grows tedious are the shifts back to "present day." Turning what's essentially a lawsuit into gripping drama is tough work, unless you're Aaron Sorkin ("The Social Network"). Daniel Bruhl ("Rush") is too good an actor to be relegated to the exposition beat. He shows up out of nowhere on a street in Vienna with the sole purpose to fill in the blanks on Austrian art restitution. Katie Holmes ("The Dark Knight") has a nothing part as Randy's supportive wife.

The always-game Mirren infuses the film and her character with her usual nuance, class and grace. She's a fighter with an acerbic tongue. But in the end, "Woman in Gold" has little sparkle.

Dana Barbuto may be reached at dbarbuto@ledger.com or follow her on Twitter at @dbarbuto_Ledger.

Movie reviewWOMAN IN GOLD(PG-13 for some thematic elements and brief strong language. Cast: Helen Mirren, Ryan Reynolds, Daniel Bruhl. Grade: B-

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Movie review: 'Woman in Gold' doesn't shine

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After slogging through an hour or so of set-up, exposition and prosaic dialogue, "Woman in Gold" finally finds its footing. You stick with it for three reasons: the fact-based story about recovering stolen art works is compelling; Helen Mirren is terrific at displaying the required moxie to reclaim it; and the hope is that her co-star, Ryan Reynolds, will bare his chiseled abs.

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1916-Maria was born Febuary 18,1916 in Veinna, Austria-Hungary
1937-She was named after the famous painting called, Women in Gold
1937-Maria got married to Fritz (Fredrick) Altmann
1938-Her and her husband escaped from the Nazis
1938-Maria got the five paintings that were worth 330 million dollars
1940-Her and her husband moved to LA where Maria began selling Cashmere sweaters from a shop in Beverly Hills
1994-Maria's  husband died
2004-Her actions reached the U.S supreme court, which ruled that she could sue the Austrians
2011-Maria died on Febuary 7 in LA

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This is a short clip of the movie Women In Gold. This was a movie based on Maria and how she escaped from the Nazis, and saved paintings that were stolen. It was a drama/history film. It was directed by Simon Curtis. The person that played Maria was Helen Mirren.

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WOMAN IN GOLD - Justice Clip - The Weinstein Company

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WOMAN IN GOLD is the remarkable true story of one woman's journey to reclaim her heritage and seek justice for what happened to her family. Sixty years after she fled Vienna during World War II, an elderly Jewish woman, Maria Altmann (Helen Mirren), starts her journey to retrieve family possessions seized by the Nazis, among them Klimt's famous painting Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I.

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This is also a famous picture. She is in the museum that her paintings were in. That museum was actually in her house. She was wearing a plain black casual dress

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This picture is when she had recieved this expensive painting. She was given this because she got it back from the Nazis. The photographers were taking pictures with her and the painting. The discription is she was wearing casual white top with black vest with unique prints.

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She wore this beautiful outfit in many photographs. The pants were cacky. And the shirt was pink,green,white, and brown. She had a scarf to match. They were reading a book about Maria and what she had to go through during World War 2

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This was one of the paintings that Naria saved from the Nazis. This painting set a record price of 135 million dollars in 2006. This was one of thousand paintings that was stolen from the Nazis. This was also one of the paintings that she was given as a gift of appreciation.

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Celebrating picture

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This is a picture pf her and her husband

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This is a comparison of the real and fake Maria and her husband

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This is a picture of here and her lawyer in court

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This was here giving a speach

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Her standing next to the paintings

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When she was younger.

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Picture of her when she was younger

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Simple picture of her

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The notorious Nazi ransacked my place, taking the earrings and necklace I wore at my wedding. He even took the engagement ring off my finger. I was terrified they’d take my husband. “So I said, ‘There’s more jewelry in the safe.’ I gave them everything hoping they would leave Fritz with me.”                                               But by the end of that day in 1938, my diamonds and dignity were gone, and so was my husband. Landau took Fritz Altmann “hostage.” And then threw him in a concentration camp. She later found out that he was dead.

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I had made several requests for the collection’s return, but my requests were denied citing Adele’s will. However, after Austria passed a law forcing greater Government transparency regarding Nazi looted art, a reporter discovered that Adele had not authority as she was not the purchaser, and that Ferdinand had never donated the collection.         That suggested the collection remained the property of our family. I attempted to negotiate a deal for the collections’ return. Even allowing the portrait to remain in Austria’s possession, however, a deal couldn’t be finalized. I was forced to sue the Austrian Government through the Austrian courts.
-Anonymous

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Soon after the Nazis came to power in 1933, they began the systematic appropriation of Jewish valuables, including some of the most important modern art of the early 20th century. Lately, the topic had been garnering a lot of media attention, including several books, documentaries, magazine articles and film’s like George Clooney’s Monuments Men.                      Joining the cannon of Nazi Art plunder films is the recently released “Woman in Gold,” the story of my eight-year struggle. For the return of Gustave Klimt’s “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I.”  Adele Bloch-Bauer and her husband were patrons of the arts, supporting several artists including Klimt.
-Anonymous

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I was a beautiful bride of only four months when the Gestapo came knocking. I felt the chill of that blustery, winter day as I opened my apartment door. The man standing there was short and neatly dressed in a business suit. He said his name was Landau and he was sent to collect taxes for the German government.              The Nazis had just annexed Austria and started a campaign to loot wealthy Jewish families. When Landau asked to see my jewelry, she could see ruthlessness in his eyes. Then they started searching our apartment. And they found 3 of those paintings.
-Anonymous

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1.https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=12&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiL0q3v-cLSAhXDayYKHfb6Bk0QFghmMAs&url=http%3A%2F%2Feklektx.com%2Fmaria-altmann%2F&usg=AFQjCNGO6Oc32U01VM4bqEVjFUGeoiRUlQ
2.https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=11&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwi1us7egcPSAhUM7yYKHW7aCNAQFghfMAo&url=http%3A%2F%2Fartlawjournal.com%2Fthe-legal-story-behind-the-woman-in-gold%2F&usg=AFQjCNEpgf3klbS8Aazl3eHkYDgpGBx1mg
3.https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=8&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiGv_D6isPSAhWEPiYKHW6RCxkQFghLMAc&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.chicagotribune.com%2Fentertainment%2Fmusic%2Freich%2Fct-woman-gold-reflections-20150404-column.html&usg=AFQjCNHpuYwhr7UrzY7Azi-UAFo7mdPRAQ&bvm=bv.148747831,d.eWE

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1916
My name is Maria Altmann. I was born on Febuary 18, 1916, Vienna,Austria. I am married to Fritz Altmann. I was related to Luise Gutmann, Karl David Bloch-Bauer, Leopold Bently, and Robert Bentle.                                           And my parents were Therese Bauer and Gustav Bloch-Bauer. I was also known as the Women in Gold. I got some what famous because I saved a famous painting that the Germans were
-Anonymous