He said, she said

The Danish Girl

Crit

Eddie Redmayne pads his credentials as the sovereign of the existential challenge; upcoming roles are presumably as Santa Claus and God. Here he even faces up to the formidable challenge of being more beautiful than Alicia Vikander, and though that may be a cheekbone too far, Lili is a beauty, make no mistake.

This is a warm and sensitive film that probably is as complicated as it can be, given the constraints of narrative and time--and to be fair, the evolution of the relationship between Vikander's Gerda and Redmayne's evolving character is what director Tom Hooper does best. But apart from a few strokes of silk stockings and satin dresses and a visit to a voyeurism booth, we don't really get a feeling for the trauma of displacement that Lili felt as Einar.

Trailers

• Midnight Special--Trailer says it's a film by Jeff Nichols. "Who?" I wonder. Then the elaboration: writer-director of Take Shelter and Mud, which made my best-of lists for 2011 and 2013, respectively. Oh, OK then!