Comments on: BFI London Film Festival Review: Susanne Bier’s Long-Delayed ‘Serena’ Starring Jennifer Lawrence & Bradley Cooper

By: Jim Law

Jim Law — Mon, 23 May 2016 05:16:38 +0000

PS: I hate to say it, but this indicates that Lars Van Trier\’s well-documented disdain for Bier may be based on more on chauvinism – he would have made something deranged and brilliant out of the source material.

By: Jim Law

Jim Law — Mon, 23 May 2016 05:16:38 +0000

This sounds as if Bier screwed up something very promising – shame…the stills I saw looked promising, and suggested something better. Bier seems to have wasted Lawrence in particular: contrary to what the previous poster says, she has a gift to inhabit characters (compare the utterly different roles she plays in Hunger Games and American Hustle) and give them fire, but she obviously hasn\’t been directed to good effect here.

By: Karen

Karen — Mon, 23 May 2016 05:16:38 +0000

I have always felt these two are WAY overrated ! I have not seen either of them truly inhabit another character – I always see them trying to play another character. Neither are Oscar worthy in my opinion. Then Hollywood goes nuts and only hires a handful of actors to play in top films. Wise up Hollywood!

By: S

Mon, 23 May 2016 05:16:37 +0000

"It was always a dark, dark, love story. Never a mainstream film.” _ Susanne Bier
PS: READ the book. Serena by Ron Rash

By: Zarina

Zarina — Mon, 23 May 2016 05:16:37 +0000

All the review said that the actors are good. Here an example from Bradshaw at The Guardian "And 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. I loved her insistence that the company must bring in an eagle to keep down the population of venomous snakes, which are endangering the workforce, and that only she can be allowed to train the eagle. It is a gloriously queenly, almost Tudor moment for Lawrence, who has a glimmer of Cate Blanchett’s Elizabethan hauteur. Serena had surrendered eagerly, almost ecstatically, to the socio-erotic excitement of getting a marriage proposal from a handsome, wealthy man, and then she dominates him sensually in their married life, spurring him to greater achievements, and inspiring ruthlessness against those who get in his way." her reviews are very good better than movie itself

By: Andree

Andree — Mon, 23 May 2016 05:16:37 +0000

lol, Carlos, you sound so bitter. Cooper and Lawrence have more than proved themselves as actors and she\’s won every award in the book: Oscar, Golden Globe, SAG, you name it. This was a bad script and bad direction, it has nothing to do with the actors. Oops, I just realized the one award she doesn\’t have, a Razzie for Worst Actress. We all know who has 2 of those.

By: Carlos

Carlos — Mon, 23 May 2016 05:16:37 +0000

The trailer looks terrible, bordering on camp. Cooper and Lawrence should stick with shopping mall movies, they\’re out of their element. There are less and less young american actors that have any kind of intelligence or subtlety to their performances.

By: truth

truth — Mon, 23 May 2016 05:16:37 +0000

They only get the roles they\’ve gotten because of their looks. Serena actually looks awful, flat out.

By: M.

M. — Mon, 23 May 2016 05:16:37 +0000

Funny…all the other critics seem to praise the actors but damn the script, direction. I\’ll see the film, looking forward to it.

By: Kass

Kass — Mon, 23 May 2016 05:16:37 +0000

It\’s sad the jealousy and immaturity people have because they don\’t like a actor or actress even though they\’ve only seen a couple of their films. Jennifer is only 24 have you forgotten that ? I can\’t wait to see what she does in the future so she can shut some of you guys up because your annoying.

By: wally

wally — Mon, 23 May 2016 05:16:37 +0000

The reviewer destroyed his credibility with the cheap shot. Lawrence has excelled in a variety of films, but no actor can overcome poor writing.

By: Prescott

Prescott — Mon, 23 May 2016 05:16:37 +0000

I simply don\’t get why anyone is impressed with Bradley Cooper. He seems a nice enough guy I suppose, but compared with so many other actors, like Michael Fassbender, or Gary Oldman, he\’s strictly american cheese. Jennifer Lawrence has been painfully overrated – I can see her being the new Julia Roberts, girl-next-door, everywoman star, but she so far comes off quite limited as an actor, which works fine I guess for franchise blockbusters, but not so much in something that calls for some subtlety and depth. They should back off on the hype and allow her to develop naturally, but Hollywood always loves a cash cow.

By: astrodog

astrodog — Mon, 23 May 2016 05:16:37 +0000

All the other reviews I have read have been more positive regarding the actors. Didn\’t think American Hustle was contemporary, and this seems in the same context as Winter\’s Bone. Direction and script are always king.

By: SR13

SR13 — Mon, 23 May 2016 05:16:37 +0000

As someone who has read the novel I was looking forward to the adaptation. But although I like Lawrence and Cooper in certain roles I just don\’t think these roles were for them. Serena, in my mind, is more like a Charlize Theron type. You can sense that she has a dark side when she\’s on screen. Lawrence is still very young and maybe can do better in period pieces if she plays someone more her age. As for Cooper\’s character, he supposed to be a well-built man who is intimidating and greedy. Maybe someone like Tom Hardy would have been best. But I still am curious to see it. Maybe historical epic type movies aren\’t Bier\’s thing.

By: John

John — Mon, 23 May 2016 05:16:37 +0000

Both Cooper and Lawrence are worth of all the awards they\’ve won and been nominated for. Too bad so many are jealous of them. Silver Lining Playbook holds up especially well during repeated watchings. The problems with Serena come from the script and the direction. Period dramas are one of the hardest genres to get funding for, which is why so few of them are made each year. You have to applaud their ambition if nothing else.