Based on actual events, this movie has Jim Broadbent as Kempton Bunton, the man who stole Goya's portrait of the Duke of Wellington from the National Gallery; Helen Mirren as his wife; and Matthew Goode as the lawyer who had to defend Bunton at trial, after he had made a full confession.
I found the first part of this movie a tad onerous, as Broadbent's exploration of Bunton reveals him as shrill, dishonest, and smug, even if his heart is in the right place, and Miss Mirren, looking dowdy and disapproving -- how did they ever get together in the first place? -- keeps reading him the Riot Act. It is only when Broadbent returns the Goya to the National Gallery and fully confesses that the movie shows a breath of life with the appearance of Goode as his rightfully bemused and mildly amused counsel. It is then that the movie opens up, becomes increasingly absurd, and permits Broadbent to show how charming he can be, blathering away on the big screen.
I found the first part of this movie a tad onerous, as Broadbent's exploration of Bunton reveals him as shrill, dishonest, and smug, even if his heart is in the right place, and Miss Mirren, looking dowdy and disapproving -- how did they ever get together in the first place? -- keeps reading him the Riot Act. It is only when Broadbent returns the Goya to the National Gallery and fully confesses that the movie shows a breath of life with the appearance of Goode as his rightfully bemused and mildly amused counsel. It is then that the movie opens up, becomes increasingly absurd, and permits Broadbent to show how charming he can be, blathering away on the big screen.