Serena (2014)

Serena: Directed by Susanne Bier. With Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Rhys Ifans, Toby Jones. In Depression-era North Carolina, the future of George Pemberton’s timber empire becomes complicated when he marries Serena.

“Despite the oddly virulent reviews of Serena posted on this site, Serena is not a bad film, simply a dull one. Beautiful cinematography (it was filmed in the Czech Republic) and costume design canu0026#39;t hide the flaws of the directoru0026#39;s decisions. The film is weirdly static, with no flow from scene to scene. Because of that, the actors arenu0026#39;t allowed to build their performances, actions seem simply to happen and no point of view is made or advanced. The famed Lawrence/Cooper chemistry is notably absent because of this directorial decision. There are births, deaths, accidents with no relation in the larger scheme of the movie. Lawrence is stunning in the period costumes, Rhys Ifans virtually unidentifiable in the best performance of Serena and Bradley Cooper continues his aversion to razors as the stubble-faced husband/owner of the logging company. (BTW: this appearance is notably out of sync for a period piece. No business owner in the first half of the 20th century would appear in public with a 2 day growth of whiskers.)Coming off the previous successes of the Lawrence/Cooper team, this film is a failure that can only be laid at the directoru0026#39;s feet. Itu0026#39;s a shame that their work is dissipated in this way.”