Reel Critics: ‘Fast & Furious’ and formulaic

Faster and more furious than the previous six films, “Fast & Furious 7” offers manic action at breakneck speed.

If you are already a fan of this franchise, you most certainly will be entertained by the latest installment. Crazy driving stunts, cliff-hanging escapes and impossible exploits explode on the screen like so many shotgun blasts.

Of course, you must suspend all normal belief systems to go with the flow of the preposterous story. Computer-hacking bad guys are the current excuse for generating the feverish pitch of hectic adventures. Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham lead the muscle-bound pack of heroes and villains. Top-notch special effects give life to the frenetic madness that passes for a plot.

The chaotic whirlwind of action is well produced in many exotic locations. But with a running time of nearly 2½ hours, it’s all overdone, overloaded and overwrought. The relentless car chases, brutal fistfights and silly shoot-outs seem to go on forever. The nonstop parade of mayhem is likely to numb the mind of anyone above video-game age.

—John Depko

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Not much glitter in ‘Gold’

An elderly Jewish woman tries to reclaim family heirlooms confiscated by the Nazis in “The Woman in Gold.” This is based on a true story, and the topic is relevant since the courts are seeing similar restitution cases.

In the case of Maria Altmann, the property in question are works by renowned Austrian painter Gustav Klimt, whose portrait of Maria’s aunt, “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I,” is considered the “Mona Lisa” of Austria. Wresting such a prize from the Austrian government will prove to be a daunting undertaking.

I enjoyed the history of this artwork but found the cinematic treatment heavy-handed. The wonderful Helen Mirren plays Maria as a stern woman who scolds her inexperienced lawyer, Randy Schoenburg (woefully miscast Ryan Reynolds), the grandson of a famous Austrian composer. All of Mirren’s kibitzing in the first half made me think I was watching a European version of “Driving Miss Daisy.”

The more memorable scenes are flashbacks, where we see the beautiful aunt Adele and the young Maria and her husband’s narrow escape from German-occupied Austria. The story could have been stronger without the sentimental music and dialogue hammering home the gravitas of the situation.

Mirren is most effective in her quiet moments. Reynolds does his best but really seems too expressionless to portray a lawyer with a sudden awakening of conscience.

As with the movie “The Monuments Men,” we realize again the staggering losses under Hitler’s regime, in terms of lives, homes and culture. “The Woman in Gold” is but one of millions of stories about this era. I wish it had been handled as delicately as the gold leaf in that beautiful, shimmering painting.

—Susanne Perez

JOHN DEPKO is a retired senior investigator for the Orange County public defender’s office. He lives in Costa Mesa and works as a licensed private investigator. SUSANNE PEREZ lives in Costa Mesa and is an executive assistant for a company in Irvine.