'Serena': The movie adaptation of the Ron Rash novel gets a negative reception from critics
A movie starring Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper that鈥檚 an adaptation of a Ron Rash novel was slow to arrive in the US and is now receiving some rather negative reviews.聽
鈥淪erena,鈥� which is based on Rash鈥檚 2008 novel of the same name, follows married couple George (Cooper) and Serena (Lawrence), who found a timber business in North Carolina. However, Serena soon discovers that George has a secret and the two establish a harsh rule over those in the area.
Cooper and Lawrence have previously co-starred in such films as 鈥淪ilver Linings Playbook鈥� and 鈥淎merican Hustle.鈥�
The movie version of 鈥淪erena鈥� came out in Britain this fall and is now available on video on demand. It鈥檚 coming to US theaters on March 27.聽
However, the film has not received positive reviews. writer Guy Lodge found the movie to have 鈥渃ourageous performances鈥� but found that it has 鈥渘either a narrative impetus nor a perceptible objective鈥�. [T]he film [has a] silly, thriller-ized denouement鈥�. [I]ts consistent preoccupation with basest human behavior obscur[es] any rooting interest in the events onscreen鈥�. [Lawrence鈥檚 is] a performance of agile, angular daring鈥� The star also makes good on her proven chemistry with Cooper, who acquits himself with stoic intelligence and a variable regional accent in an inscrutable role.鈥�
critic Charlie Lyne called the movie 鈥渨holly unremarkable 鈥� [a] middling period drama.鈥�
鈥淟awrence is as reliably engaged as ever, finding a convincing emotional path through even the shallowest of lines,鈥� Lyne wrote. 鈥淐ooper, likewise, is un-showy but competent鈥�. This is a film full of unremarkable compromises 鈥� the kind that result in a bland film rather than a bad one鈥�. Nothing in the film is worthy of either admiration or outrage.鈥澛�
Meanwhile, writer Todd McCarthy found it to be 鈥減leasantly compelling if ploddingly old-fashioned鈥� at the beginning. It was the rest of the film with which he had a problem.聽
鈥�'Serena' only has one key flaw: it is difficult to believe a single word of it, still less to care about these relentlessly selfish and short-sighted characters,鈥� McCarthy wrote. 鈥淭he supposedly volcanic passion between Serena and George feels brittle and forced, despite the previous easy screen chemistry between Lawrence and Cooper. And there is a fatal lack of humor in the entire story鈥�. [B]oth [Lawrence and Cooper] give performances with more depth and texture than these star-crossed lovers deserve. More blame lies with聽Christopher Kyle's script, a string of jarring cliches and clunky attempts at subtext.鈥�
