#REVIEW What “Denial” Lacks, Makes Up For With Great Acting

Have you ever had an encounter with a narcissistic bully who has talent at manipulating others around them? Well you’re about to get a good look at one in Denial.

Denial stars Rachel Weisz as acclaimed Jewish author Deborah E. Lipstadt. It is based on a true story about her time in court against former well regarded military historian, David Irving. The film starts out with an intense confrontation between the two, and with Lipstadt being sued for libel after she voraciously labels Irving a Holocaust denier in her first published book, Denying The Holocaust. Instead of having the trial take place in America, it’s held in England where the burden of proof is on the accused. Lipstadt must prove in the court of British law that the Holocaust occurred. Things are tense at times because Irving comes on strong and is an expert on how to manipulate public images in the media and online. Like I said before – narcissistic bully and attention seeker.

Weisz transforms her beautiful self into a somewhat homely university professor with a thing for perms. It was the 90’s. She even changes the tone of her voice from a posh Brit accent into some nasally mid-western accent. But, the standout performance comes from Spall himself. I have never hated a villain so much in life since Joffery had Ned beheaded in Game of Thrones, season one. Spall plays the part so well I started wondering if I was watching him reenact Donald Trump. (On a side note I can’t believe this guy’s diary collection. He has at least two to three walls of decades of diaries. I actually couldn’t help laughing out loud at that part during the screening.)

I do have to give credit to Weisz for playing such a strong female character. That woman did not let anything that Spall did faze her. This is where I find her actually incredibly strong. She wasn’t afraid to stand up to him on such an important topic, especially when other people from her community are telling her to stand down, and see through his antics. Although that could also just be Hollywood writing.

While the showdown between the two main opponents was entertaining, I do wish they explored some of the background characters’ storylines as well. Lipstadt had an intelligent team of lawyers with a great game plan to deal with Spall that was almost flawless throughout the movie. The lawyers seemed one dimensional, it made the whole movie seem like she could just breeze through the court proceedings. The main lawyer seemed like he could be really interesting, after all he did represent Princess Diana after all during her divorce and the Jewish community in London did warn Lipstadt to “be careful with him”. What was that all about?!! Hello, may I please have some more of this storyline?

Although the movie was intense at times with some great acting, I do feel like the character development was lacking. This was the weakest part of the movie. The only thing that kept me interested in it was because it was relatable. We’ve all had to deal with some sort of delusional adversary bully like character at some point in our lifetime. It was the villain that really made the movie and stole the show.  

Elevation Pictures releases Denial on Friday, Oct 7, 2016