Movie Review: Denial (PG13)
This Holocaust film contains all the darkness of the event and its aftermath, but offers little in the way of hope.
Based on a real story, Denial is about author and historian Deborah Lipstadt (Rachel Weisz), who needs to prove the Holocaust's occurrence when sued by denier David Irving (Timothy Spall) for libel.
In her book Denying The Holocaust, Lipstadt called Irving a Holocaust denier, falsifier and bigot. In the film, he is not only all those things, but a bully as well.
Credit goes to Spall for making Irving as detestable as possible, though the real stars of the film are Lipstadt's ruthlessly good lawyers, played by Tom Wilkinson and Sherlock baddie Andrew Scott.
Denial struggles to find hope and positivity and never quite ascends to the level of great courtroom flicks like Erin Brockovich.We root for Weisz, but Denial feels like an average made-for-TV movie.
Verdict: 3/5
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now