In Depression-era North Carolina, George Pemberton struggles to maintain the future of his timber empire. His life becomes more complicated after his wife, Serena, learns that she cannot bear children.[5][6][7]
The film was originally to be directed by Darren Aronofsky, with Angelina Jolie as the title character. Susanne Bier replaced Aronofsky and became the new director of the film. Lawrence recommended Bradley Cooper for the project. They had worked together previously on Silver Linings Playbook and they got along so well that they often spoke about working together again in the future. When Lawrence read the script for Serena, she sent a copy to Cooper and asked if he would do it with her. He agreed and Bier cast him as George Pemberton.
This is the third project starring Cooper and Lawrence, following Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle, and this is the second time they are playing love interests.
Filming took place in the Czech Republic at Barrandov Studios from March 26 to May 2012.[2] Bier took more than eighteen months to complete the film, but there were no re-shoots or problems in post-production.[8] Bier also had to take time away to promote Love Is All You Need.[9]
Release
The film premiered at the BFI London Film Festival on October 13, 2014,[10] was released in the United Kingdom on October 24, 2014, and France on November 12, 2014.[11]Magnolia Pictures will distribute the film in the United States from February 26, 2015.[12]
Box office
The film earned £95,000 ($153,310) from 185 theatres on its opening weekend in the United Kingdom, debuting at number nineteen at the UK box office.[13][14] More release dates soon followed in Italy, Russia, Ukraine, Spain, New Zealand, and Turkey
As of November 9, the film has a worldwide total of $2,770,239.[15]
Reception
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 32% approval rating with an average rating of 4.3 out of 10, based on 28 reviews.[16] On Metascore it received a 36% approval rating, generally unfavorable reviews, based on 6 critics.
Andy Lea of Daily Star wrote in a positive review that, "It's another terrific performance from Lawrence, who almost manages to sell Serena’s all too quick transformation from steely feminist to crazed femme fatale." Similarly, Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian praised Lawrence, "Lawrence brings her A-game. She is passionate, impetuous and confident, with a tough determination to grab the brass ring that has been presented to her." Guy Lodge of Variety agreed, "The Stanwyck comparisons lavished upon Lawrence’s Oscar-winning work in Silver Linings Playbook resurface here; she certainly looks every inch the Golden Age siren with her crimped vanilla locks and array of creamy silken sheaths that, true to vintage Hollywood form, never seem to get sullied in the wild." He added, "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 that, for its occasional flourishes of Clark Gable bravado, is equal parts hero, anti-hero and patsy."
In The Canberra Times, Jake Wilson praised Cooper, arguing, "Cooper once again proves his value as a leading man who approaches his roles like a character actor."[17] However, he was more nuanced about the cinematography, suggesting it made "the setting slightly abstract, in the manner of her former mentor Lars von Trier - and the storytelling suffers from some sudden transitions and ill-explained twists."[17] He concluded, "if this is not a perfect film it's an unusually haunting one."[17]
Writing for the Toronto Star, Peter Howell criticized the film, suggesting the cinematography was "bland, unsteady and lacking in definition."[18] In the Vancouver Sun, Katherine Monk argued that Bier was "probably trying to make a movie similar in feel to The Piano."[19] However, she argued that the "whole national park subplot is confusing and blurs the blacks and whites required to generate sympathy, and every character suffers a similarly grey fate."[19] She concluded, "by the end, we barely like anyone in this smoky landscape, let alone care about what happens to them."[19] Writing for The Toronto Sun, Bruce Kirland stressed the setting of the Great Depression, suggesting it was, "the rural reflection of the film versions of The Great Gatsby, which are based on the classic 1925 novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald."[20] However, he found the film boring.[20]
In The Daily Telegraph, Robbie Collin praised Lawrence's acting at the expense of Cooper's, suggesting, "Lawrence comes out of it significantly better than Cooper," adding that she was "effectively Lady Macbeth in jodhpurs and a pussy-bow blouse."[21] He concluded on a despondent note, writing "all [the film] amounts to is dead wood."[21] Stephen Dalton of The Hollywood Reporter criticised the film, arguing, "it is difficult to believe a single word of it, still less to care about these relentlessly selfish and short-sighted characters."[22] He praised Lawrence's and Cooper's acting, but suggested the problem lay in "Christopher Kyle's script, a string of jarring cliches and clunky attempts at subtext" and "Johan Soderqvist's cloying, imploring orchestral score."[22]
In The Irish Times, Donald Clark praised the cinematography as " exquisite," but suggested that Lawrence's performance was "genuinely poor."[23] He concluded, "Nobody is likely to see the [film]."[23] Writing for The Independent, Geoffrey Macnab called it "a strangely dour and downbeat affair."[24] He suggested it was reminiscent of Michael Cimino's Heaven's Gate. However, he criticized its "heavy-handed poetic symbolism" and "the guilt and self-loathing that its characters feel."[24]
