Review for Serena

Set in Depression-riddled America, George Pemberton is trying hard to keep his timber empire afloat. With the effects of the crash still making its mark on the country he must try and make a future in a world where there might not be one. That is until he meets Serena. She is a bit of greedy, manipulative woman who has her own inner demons to deal with. George must contend with her, his business and the changing world to try and make it.

Now, I will start by saying this film feels fantastic. The epic shots, the swelling music, the costumes the authenticity of it all is just superb. The acting by Bradley Cooper as George and Jennifer Lawrence as Serena is again perfect. Their wonderful chemistry from Silver Linings Playbook has certainly filtered into this film.

But...

This is film is so boring. I don't just mean in a 'nothing happens, get on with it' kind of way, but in a 'things are happening, but I just don't care' kind of way. At times, the film just seems to wander aimlessly and it's not even a long film at 110 Minutes or so. It just feels like the writer didn't know what to do with the material. This is not surprising when you learn that Writer Christopher Kyle's only ever award was a Razzie Nomination for Worst Screenplay for Alexander. Sadly, he did not learn from this film and Oscar-Winner Susanne Bier deserved better material than this to work with.

As I say, Cooper and Lawrence do amazing work, but even with that, they both look lost. It's almost like the Producers thought they could coast on the success they would bring from their previous efforts. This is not the case and the rest of the cast are bland and uninspiring. I watched waiting for someone, anyone, to steal the show from the main stars, make me laugh, make me feel something. But no one did. I'm not really sure whether this is again due to the material, the Direction or that simply no one cared, but due to this I could not attach to any characters. This is not the sign of a good film.

Extras include an Interview with Director Susanne Bier and Writer Christopher Kyle. This less than Five Minutes Q&A is fine, it answers a few questions, but simply does not go into the nitty gritty on the making of the film that a full Commentary or longer interview would have.

Four Featurettes less than two minutes on the Collaboration between Cooper and Lawrence, Three minutes on how the Production Design was done which is fine, though again too short, Three Minutes on Susanne Biers Directing Style which is too short and finally Three Minutes on the Serena character. These are all far too short and don't do justice to any of the topics they focus (or don't focus) on. Finally, they include the Trailer which is pretty standard.

Serena could and should have been great, or at the very least good. Instead it is just average. I didn't enjoy watching the film and this was a major problem. It's not the film I expected. I expected an Epic film that made me feel and made me want to go out and read the book and seek out more from this Director. Instead, I got not feeling to do that, just to finish watching and move on.