Review: "Serena"

Director: Susanne Bier
Runtime: 109 minutes

Even the brightest super-star duos stumble once and a while. That's exactly the case with Susanne Bier's long-delayed Serena, which strands A-listers/frequent co-stars Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence in a jumbled, albeit sincerely made, attempt at old-school melodrama. Even fans of the two leads would be advised to steer clear of Bier's latest attempt to find success outside of her native Denmark. 

What's instantly clear about Serena is that, despite the strong credentials, just about everything rings hollow. Characters are established via stray lines of dialogue rather than meaningful conversations or actions, and the actors trudge through their material while sounding like they've never spoken a word of English until now. Set in Depression-era North Carolina, Serena is a romance and a tragedy set among the state's struggling timber industry. George Pemberton (Cooper) is doing his best to grow his business into an empire, while his new wife Serena (Lawrence) is coping with her inability to produce an heir. It's a set-up rich with dramatic potential, with Serena's quest for a male heir instantly calling to mind the not-so-merry wives of Henry VIII. Unfortunately, the beautifully shot trees are the least wooden subjects on display.

Cooper and Lawrence have proven themselves as talented, charismatic performers, but in Serena they are distressingly out of sync with their material and each other. George's first line of dialogue to Serena is an out-of-the-blue marriage proposal, and it's all downhill from there. For a while, Serena is more focused on George's battle against officials who want to stop his deforestation efforts to create a national park. Despite the grim faces and appropriately dusty period attire, the plot thread never takes hold. Parks and Recreation traversed similar narrative ground with greater heft, even with Leslie Knope's undeterred, sunny optimism. So, after about 45 minutes and one murder, Christopher Kyle's script (based on Ron Rash's novel) gets cold feet and shifts to the pregnancy drama. 

The traumas and tragedies that follow over the remaining hour are a mish-mash of cliches that aren't done any favors by Bier's handling of the tone, which switches between disinterested and dour at the tip of George's wide-brimmed hat. Cooper is stuck trying to pull off an unconvincing accent, while Lawrence conveys the poise required for the role while still being distractingly underage. As with American Hustle, there are pieces of a solid performance in Lawrence's work, but they require a level of maturity that can only come with time. Sometimes, screen presence just isn't enough.

As the dueling story lines awkwardly slug it out for dominance, Serena unravels at a tedious pace. Photography, costumes, and sets all hit their marks, capturing the period and setting without creating false glamor. But with an unwieldy plot barely propped up by the wet blanket chemistry of the leads, even the visuals start to seem phony by the end. Given the rumored re-shoots and re-edits of the film, perhaps there's a version of Serena that actually passes muster as a noble failure, or even a minor success. Yet, in it's current form, the romance lacks heat, and the tragedy lacks even an ounce of genuine pathos. Some movies, no matter how much sense they make on paper, just never find the spark required to create compelling drama. Here's hoping the next Cooper/Lawrence vehicle (David O. Russell's Joy, due by year's end) gets these two A-listers back on the right track.

Grade: D

AFI Fest Review: "Berberian Sound Studio"

Director: Peter Strickland
Runtime: 92 minutes

Though Peter Strickland's Berberian Sound Studio is fascinating in its glimpse into the work of sound engineers, it ultimately wears out its welcome. Despite the potential of the premise, this slow-burning thriller runs out of steam quite quickly, and tries to save itself by jumping head first into the deep end. It doesn't really help matters.

Set in the 70s, Strickland's film quickly introduces us to Gilderoy (Toby Jones), a British sound engineer. Gilderoy has been hired by an eccentric Italian horror director to create and mix the sounds for his latest giallo film. Once in the studio, Gilderoy must contend with fussy co-workers, an egotistical director, and actors who struggle to match the director's vision for his film. 

At its best, Sound Studio shows us the amount of effort that goes in to dubbing in almost an entire film's worth of dialogue and sound effects. Whether it's ripping turnips from their stems to simulate hair pulling, or crushing watermelons to evoke a body landing on a curbside, these instances provide an entertaining look into the world of sound. And yet, at only 92 minutes, Strickland's film wears out this angle rather quickly. It doesn't take long before one starts to wish for something more. At best, we get a subplot involving an actress' affair with a director, which amounts to little more than a setback. Strickland also seems to think that repeatedly emphasizing Gilderoy's lackluster social skills somehow enhances the narrative. Like the sound design scenes, it only works for a brief period of time. 

The result of all of this is that the first two acts of the film feel underdeveloped. Just as Gilderoy finds the repetitive nature of his job tiresome, so do the repetitive scenes of recording session lose their appeal. It's a shame because Jones is trying his best to find something to work with underneath the undercooked execution. Credit should also go to the rich, muted cinematography and, as would be expected considering the story, the sound design. The film is a technical marvel, initially buoyed by intrigue and a surprising amount of low key humor. Unfortunately they feel completely stagnant, as though Strickland wants to make sure that the audience "gets it" before segueing into the final act. 

And what a mess of a final act it is. Perhaps in an attempt to compensate for the repetitive nature of the first two thirds, act three goes into full blown David Lynch nightmare mode. However, it does so without earning an ounce of it. Art starts to imitate life, and the authenticity of the story comes into question. Gilderoy wanders from his bed into a room with a projector, only to have the project show a movie what he just did. Yet because the motivations and circumstances are far too vague, it frustrates much more than it intrigues. The further Strickland tries to pull us down the rabbit hole, the more you wish he would just back off and explain what on earth he's trying to do. For once, a little Christopher Nolan-esque exposition would be a welcome addition. 

What's left is a wasted opportunity. Toby Jones has been looking for another great leading role ever since his excellent turn in the under-seen Infamous (2006). This could have and should have been his next triumph as an indie leading man. But Strickland and his screenplay undercut the talented leading man at every turn. Berberian Sound Studio is full of potential, but it only makes anything of said potential for about half an hour. After that, it's merely frustratingly inert, before becoming hopelessly bizarre in some desperate attempt to be achieve meaning. Yet by the time the film cuts to black, we're left every bit as mystified as Gilderoy, watching himself projected by the unseen force of his nightmares.

Grade: C

Venice Review Round-Up: "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"

Ever since its brilliant first trailer, Tomas Alfredson's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, an adaptation of John Le Carre's spy novel, has been at the top of my most anticipated list for the rest of the year. In addition to Alfredson himself, whose last film was the excellent Let the Right One In (2008), the film boasts an incredible ensemble led by Gary Oldman. The vibe given off by the promotional materials is filled with a quiet sense of dread, menace, and paranoia, which fits perfectly with the story's Cold War setting. So, needless to say, I was both excited and nervous about the film's world premiere at Venice. Thankfully, Alfredson's film, his first English-language feature, is getting off to an excellent start, one that positions the film as one of the top contenders for The Golden Lion:

The London Evening Standard - Derek Malcolm (4/5 stars): "...an effective celebration of Le Carre's artful story-telling, acted by one and all with with a quiet panache that strikes home."

The Telegraph - David Gritten (5/5 stars): "[Alfredson] captures scenes with silky fluidity...finding a visual equivalent to the story's hunt for complex solutions." "...it makes your heart pound, gets your pulses racing, and sends your brain cells into overdrive."

Variety - Leslie Felperin (N/A): "An inventive, meaty distillation of Le Carre's 1974 novel...an incisive examination of Cold War ethics, rich in both contempo resonance and elegiac melancholy."

Thompson on Hollywood - Matt Mueller (N/A): "...contains a clutch of nail-biting sequences and features a razor-sharp turn from Gary Oldman..." "...settles for being a very good as opposed to a superb spy thriller."

The Guardian - Xan Brooks (4/5 stars): "Oldman gives a deliciously delicate, shaded performance..." "If there is any flaw to the film, it is that the whistle is blown too soon..." "...[the film] is more about the journey than the destination; more fascinated with detail than the denouement."

Time Out London - Dave Calhoun (4/5 stars): "...Alfredson ('Let the Right One In') blows a fresh air of continental style into Le Carre's story without harming the 1970s British period feel of his source material." "The new script...is a marvel of wise and respectful adaptation."

The Hollywood Reporter - Deborah Young (N/A): "...so visually absorbing, felicitous shot after shot, that its emotional coldness is noticed only at the end..."

IndieWire - Oliver Lyttelton (A): "...incredibly rich and perfectly constructed..."

Venice Verdict: A slick, well-acted, and intellectually stimulating Cold War thriller, as well as a successful adaptation of Le Carre's labyrinthine novel.

Trailer: "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" [music found!]

One of the much buzzed about, but little-exposed films of the year is Tomas Alfredson's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, an adaptation of the John Le Carre novel of the same name. Boasting a dynamite all-male cast, promotional material has been scant until this trailer. Judging by the Youtube video's title, it looks like another trailer will hit soon for US audiences. That seems like a shame, though, seeing as this 80 second look already has me saying YES to everything. I love the aesthetic of Cold War Era thrillers, where suspense is built more on character interactions (and globe-trotting) that shoot outs or chases. There's also the director, Mr. Alfredson, whose last film was the excellent Let the Right One In (the Swedish original). Then there's that outstanding cast of talented actors. Barring that this is some surprise fiasco, Alfredson and co. can count me as sold on this one.

**Also: Special credit should go to the people who put this trailer together. The clips are well chosen, and let us in on the story without taking us through big sections of the plot. The editing and music are pretty fabulous as well, building a nice little knot of tension in a short amount of time. Bravo.