"The Danish Girl" is a disconcerting film about a Danish landscape painter who undergoes gender reassignment surgery circa 1930.

Tom Hooper (Oscar director recipient, "The King's Speech," 2010; director, "Les Miserables," 2012) directs "The Danish Girl" from a screenplay by Lucinda Coxon ("Wild Target," 2010; "The Heart of Me," 2001) based on the novel, "The Danish Girl" (2000), by David Ebershoff.The film, which is fictitious, is based on the lives of Danish artists and husband and wife, Lili Elbe and Gerda Gottlieb Wegener. The story revolves around their love for each other, especially when and after Elbe chooses to have gender reassignment surgery in Berllin, Germany, believed to be one of the first such surgeries. After a succession of surgeries, Elbe died in 1931.Elbe, born Einar Magnus Andreas Wegener, was a successful artist. After transitioning, she legally changed her name to Lili Ilse Elvenes. Her autobiography, "Man Into Woman," was published in 1933."The Danish Girl" is nominated for four Oscars: Leading Actor (Eddie Redmayne), Supporting Actress (Alicia Vikander), Production Design (Eve Stewart, Michael Standish) and Costume Design (Paco Delgado)."The Danish Girl" is fascinating in the first third to first half of the film, leading up to the decision by Einar (Redmayne) to have surgery. The interplay between Einar and Gerda (Vikander) and their friends and acquaintances in the Copenhagen and Paris art community and society has its moments.However, once Gerda waves goodbye to Einar at the train station for his trip to Germany, the film becomes predictable. This is somewhat unavoidable because of the storyline.The film is not helped by Hooper's, ahem, paint-by-numbers, direction, which hits the plot points, but not the emotional points.It's compounded by the performance of Redmayne (Oscar actor recipient, "The Theory of Everything," 2014), who falls back upon a toothsome smile, flirtatious eyes and coquettish tilt of the head. The female attire, hair and makeup seem to restrain Redmayne's carefully constructed performance as Lili Elbe. Redmayne's more successful as Einar Wegener.The performance of Vikander (a revelation in "Ex Machina," 2015) as Gerda Gottlieb Wegener provides the audience a window into the story and the personality of Lili/Einar. Vikander also seems a bit too eager to please during the film's final third. The film is reduced to TV movie melodrama, somewhat saved by a strong performance by art dealer Hans Axgil (Matthias Schoenaerts).The cinematography by Danny Cohen ("Room," "The King's Speech," "Les Miserables") revels in painterly scenes. The score by Alexandre Desplat is rich."The Danish Girl" resonates in the final frames. One cannot help but be emotionally affected by the film's resolution. An epilogue about the purported effect of Lili Elbe's life and decision on contemporary society is heavy-handed, as is the film."The Danish Girl," MPAA R (Restricted. Children Under 17 Require Accompanying Parent or Adult Guardian.) for some sexuality and full nudity; Genre: Biography, Drama, Romance: Run Time: 1 hr., 59 min.; Distributed by Focus Features.Credit Readers Anonymous: "The Danish Girl" was filmed in England, Denmark, Belgium, Germany, France and Norway.Box Office, Jan. 15: "Ride Along 2" zoomed to No. 1 with $34 million for the Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend with "The Revenant" (a leading 12 Oscar nominations) staying at No. 2, with 12 Oscar nominations, $29.5 million, $87.6 million, four weeks, ending the four-week No. 1 run of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" (five Oscar nominations), $25.1 million, $851 million, five weeks; with "13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi" opening at No. 4, with $16 million;5. "Daddy's Home," $9.3 million, $129.2 million, four weeks; 6. "Norm of the North," $6.6 million, opening; 7. "The Forest," $5.7 million, $21.1 million, two weeks; 8. "The Big Short" (five Oscar nominations), $5.2 million, $50.5 million, six weeks; 9. "Sisters," $4.4 million, $81.8 million, five weeks; 10. "The Hateful Eight" (three Oscar nominations), $3.4 million, $47.6 million, four weeks.Unreel, Jan. 22:"Dirty Grandpa," R: Dan Mazer directs Robert De Niro, Zac Efron, Zoey Deutch and Aubrey Plaza in the comedy about a soon-to-be married young man who goes on spring break to Florida with his grandfather."The 5th Wave," PG-13: J Blakeson directs Chloë Grace Moretz, Matthew Zuk, Gabriela Lopez and Bailey Anne Borders in the science-fiction thriller about a young woman trying to save her younger brother from alien attacks."Mojave," R: William Monahan directs Oscar Isaac, Walton Goggins, Mark Wahlberg and Garrett Hedlund in the thriller about a suicidal artist who meets his match, a homicidal drifter, in the desert.Two Popcorn Boxes out of Five Popcorn Boxes