'Serena' aims for tragic monumentality but hits very wide of the mark
If you鈥檙e wondering why the new Bradley Cooper-Jennifer Lawrence聽movie is getting such an under-the-radar release, it鈥檚 partly because it鈥檚聽not really a new release at all. It was shot two years ago, in between聽鈥�Silver Linings Playbook鈥� and 鈥�American Hustle,鈥� and then shelved.
Given these unpromising circumstances, I was expecting something聽truly awful, and perhaps that might have been more fun to watch than this聽lugubrious period piece. The production values and the costumes are the聽true stars.
Cooper plays George Pemberton, a timber baron in Depression-era聽North Carolina who marries聽Serena聽(Lawrence), a mysterious beauty with聽a platinum blonde coif. Looking to extend his empire, he runs into some聽pesky legal issues and聽Serena聽goes into Lady Macbeth mode, getting more聽homicidal and loony as the saga plays out. Her hair, for the most part,聽stays firmly in place.聽
Director Susanne Bier and screenwriter Christopher Kyle (no, not the man depicted in聽鈥淎merican Sniper鈥�) aim for a tragic monumentality but hit very wide of聽the mark. Cooper and Lawrence, who had terrific chemistry in their other聽two pairings, have to settle for plain old biology this time around. They聽look great together, if nothing else. Grade:聽C (Rated R for some violence and sexuality.)
