I will start by saying the film was well acted, full of tropes, and a little slow at getting to the point but it moves along once it gets there.
I had never heard the story of Han Van Meegeren before seeing this movie. Afterwards I got the feeling there was more to the story so I read a little more about the man and it is truly an interesting tale, but not as cut and dry as it's presented. The filmmakers decided to take the path of a very shallow feel-good story about a man who did the wrong things for the right reasons instead of exploring the fascinatingly grey depths that a man like Meegeren presented. It provided convenient excuses for his actions and fell back on a message of "we do terrible things to survive", echoed by a half explored story of an officer's marital problems. My takeaway from the story of Van Meegeren is "the evils of the world are many and they often run afoul of each other". I would much rather have seen the movie go there.
I had never heard the story of Han Van Meegeren before seeing this movie. Afterwards I got the feeling there was more to the story so I read a little more about the man and it is truly an interesting tale, but not as cut and dry as it's presented. The filmmakers decided to take the path of a very shallow feel-good story about a man who did the wrong things for the right reasons instead of exploring the fascinatingly grey depths that a man like Meegeren presented. It provided convenient excuses for his actions and fell back on a message of "we do terrible things to survive", echoed by a half explored story of an officer's marital problems. My takeaway from the story of Van Meegeren is "the evils of the world are many and they often run afoul of each other". I would much rather have seen the movie go there.