Eddie Redmayne swings too hard in ‘Danish Girl’

This inspires a period of experimentation in which he slowly embraces a new identity – “Lili” – except, we learn that Lili is not new at all, she’s been there all the time and Lili must now come to terms with a transition which will put her entire life into jeopardy.

While everything is attractive, the film often feels stilted. At the end, as Lili waits to undergo surgery, her raw crying is heard over a track so silent that you can hear the white noise crackling. It too is a love story, as the wife’s devotion to her husband transcend the changes that are causing her heartbreak.

To be sure, there are dazzling moments, particularly when no words are being spoken. He feels more comfortable as a woman, and assumes a role as Lili Elbe, a portrain model. And the eerily composed Vikander — recently seen in “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” and as the android in “Ex Machina” — gives a very modern, thoughtful performance.Redmaynes sober acting style actually looks a little antique next to hers. That’s how intimate this story gets. It’s as if the film is afraid to venture into tricky territory for fear of offending anyone. As he begins raiding Gerde’s wardrobe and makeup bag, Gerde simultaneously begins to paint him, discovering through her canvas a beguiling woman with curly red hair and almond shaped eyes. It seems two steps removed from real life.

Fortunately, the presence of Redmayne offsets some of these deficiencies.

Redmayne, who appeared in Hooper’s “Les Misérables”, won an Oscar for his portrayal of physicist Stephen Hawking in “The Theory of Everything” (2014).

Einar Wegener was a successful landscape painter in Copenhagen in the 1920s, married to another artist and living a lie. Especially as he goes all-in, transforming himself from the shy, mysterious Einar to the shy, mysterious Lili.

By focusing so intently on gender, the film dances around sexual orientation, because that would complicate the message that true love transcends such earthly concerns. Gerda’s pain, confusion and ultimate acceptance are written all over her attractive, open face. What really seemed anachronistic is the way Gerda explains the concept of the male gaze to a portly client sitting for his portrait, as if she were Laura Mulvey straight out of a time machine. Director Tom Hooper (“The King’s Speech”) fills the screen with beauty: the gossamer tulle of a ballerina’s skirt; the soft, pale-blue light in the Wegeners” impeccably art-directed apartment; the textured silks and velvets of the women’s flowing “20s clothing; the high ceilings and detailed interiors of the film’s parade of lovely rooms.

For the rest of us, we must settle for a film that is solid, but never quite soars. It’s obvious that this is a well-intentioned, sensitive labor of love, and Hooper’s strategy of keeping it safe is bound to bring in folks who might otherwise avoid such material.