I expected a movie centered around Dutch artist Johannes
Vermeer to echo the visual style of his work, but it was still shocking to see how perfectly Scarlett Johansson’s face mimics that of his most famous subject. The story, adapted from Tracy Chevalier’s novel, is a fairly standard depiction of the anguished artist. As Vermeer and his servant/muse, Colin Firth and Johansson do the usual dance around the themes of inspiration and obsession. At least Johansson has the delicate beauty to suggest what Vermeer may have gotten all worked up about.
