Amy Adams stars in "Big Eyes", true story of stolen paintings

NEW YORK (WABC) -- It's the real-life story of how stolen art destroyed a marriage. And actress Amy Adams plays the artist at the center of it all, bringing this old story to the big screen.

Americans spent tens of millions of dollars to watch the "Hobbit and the Battle of the Five Armies". See Angelina Jolie's "Unbroken" war movie, and go "Into the Woods" with an all-star cast.

But among all these blockbusters is a small film called "Big Eyes" I really enjoyed.

One glance at the distinctive big eyes in paintings and you can never forget them. But it's been half a century since they seemed to be everywhere, and now relatively few remember, or even care where they came from.

Turns out the true story of the couple behind the paintings may be even more compelling than the work itself.

It seems to be a fine case of opposites attracting when a shy, single mother played by Amy Adams meets a charming salesman played by Christopher Waltz, who calls himself a painter, but all is not as it may seem at first.

Walter had been passing her paintings off as his own, taking all the credit for her hard work while making them both a fortune.

"What happened with the lie was: he'd already been lying and they'd been selling paintings and by the time she figured it out she felt she couldn't tell the truth," said Adams. "He was like they'll make us give all the money back. People will never believe you didn't know."

It was an extreme form of mental abuse that kept getting worse.

"And the lie became bigger than them and she didn't know what to do," said Adams.

Playing such a passive role did not interest Amy Adams at first, but as she learned more about the real Margaret Keane, and how she ultimately prevailed," the actress embraced this part.

"I know a lot of women who are quite soft-spoken, but steely in their resolve, and so having known a lot of women like that in my life, I had a lot of inspiration," said Adams.

"Just trying to tell the truth in that way."

"Are you a bit like that?," we asked.

"Yeah, I would totally prefer to just sit and listen but I get too nervous and I just start babbling," she said.

She's being modest. Adams has perfected the art of saying so much on-screen with very little dialogue. That's one of the reasons she's been nominated for an Academy Award five times.

"Big Eyes" is good enough to earn her a sixth nod. There are so many blockbusters out there now, we didn't want this one to get lost.