Serenity
Though its big ideas don’t work, Serenity’s narrative miscalculations result in some pretty entertaining - if completely unintentional - comedy.
Even in a January full of perplexing films , the new Matthew McConaughey vehicleSerenitytakes the prize for the most confounding movie of the month . The motion picture ’s poke distinctly hint there ’s more to Steven Knight ’s noir drama than meets the eye , but it wrick out they ’ve only grazed the surface when it comes to the moving-picture show ’s third bit twists . Before then , however , there ’s a lot aboutSerenitythat does n’t make sentiency , and the big reveals do little to transfer that . If anything , the film ’s secret elevate what would ’ve otherwise been a inapt exercise in literary genre storytelling into what will probably go down as one of 2019 ’s most preposterous offering . Though its big ideas do n’t work , Serenity ’s narrative miscalculations result in some pretty entertaining - if completely unwilled - comedy .
McConaughey star inSerenityas Baker Dill , a hard - imbibition , impenetrable - smoke , fishing boat captain who lives on the remote tropical island of Plymouth and is obsessed with catching a giant tuna fish he not - so - subtly calls " Justice " , even if it come at the expense of his small - time business and religious gang - Paraguay tea Duke ( Djimon Hounsou ) . When he ’s not guide drunk customers out to sea or fishing to make a buck , Baker gets by with a little help from Constance ( Diane Lane ) , a local who ’s got hard currency to burn and is more than willing to fund Baker ’s unruly modus vivendi … so long as he continues sleeping with her on the side , that is .
Everything changes one night when Baker is go about at a local bar by Karen Zariakas ( Anne Hathaway ) , a fair sex who knows his real name is John - because they were high schooling steady who got married and finally divorced , some ten years earlier . Karen , as it become out , wants Baker to obliterate her abusive new married man Frank ( Jason Clarke ) by taking him out to sea and leave him to swim , for a sinewy payment of no less than $ 10 million . As Baker struggle to decide whether to accept her offering or not , he also begins to understand that Plymouth , his raw living , and the Earth around him may not be what they appear .
As mentioned , there ’s something off aboutSerenitywell before the third number gets underway . Knight ’s playscript is full of preposterously heavily - boiled dialogue and , in terms of his direction , the film producer delivers some observably jarring shifts in mood and panache , sometimes within the twain of a undivided scene . One moment , the movie is as visually gruff and unrefined as its grumbling protagonist , the next it ’s as glibly polished as a medicine video recording . This also lead in some pretty abrupt changes in tone , specially whenSerenityswitches gears from being a pulpy neo - noir to render to undertake serious subject affair ( like domestic abuse ) in a more realistic and grounded fashion . The film ’s gimmick do n’t really explicate these variance so much as explain them , and in doing so fail to give audiences much reason to reconsider everything they ’ve see up to that point .
By the time the film enters its second half , it becomes apparent thatSerenity ’s less interested in exploring the noir tropes it ’s drawing from and more clothe in examining ideas about morality , the universe , and the very nature of human cosmos . This is also the portion of the moving picture where McConaughey commence to wax philosophical about himself and the lifespan of those around him , as though he ’s back play Rust Cohle onTrue Detective . However , whereas the thespian ’s " McConaughlogues " in that show either drop luminance on his character or tied into the big themes of its tale , his speeches here tend to feel aimless . Even after the motion picture reveals what ’s really going on , it never becomes clear what the actual point of its story is . Meanwhile , the obvious metaphors in Knight ’s script become ( if anything ) even more ham - fisted than before .
In a film this flakey , it ’s appropriate that McConaughey delivers one of his uncanny performances to appointment . The actor feels a bit out of his ingredient in the early - departure , but hits his stride when Baker transitions from being a grouchy , sweaty mess to seeing his world clearly for the first meter and finally bring in the true statement about his new life . What makes McConaughey ’s performance unpaired is that he plays the character reference ’s entire arc with a straight cheek , even when he ’s burden with some rightfully goofy production line of dialogue . Hathaway seems a bit more self - aware in her role asSerenity ’s femme fatale ( as does Lane in her crook as an Old femme fatale ) , but if anything that just highlight how regressive the film is when it comes to its portrayal of char . Similarly , Clarke makes for a middling cartoonishly evil antagonist - right down to his gold - laced shoes and belted ammunition - and Hounsou ’s earnest persona mostly functions as Baker ’s scruples , making him little more than a two - dimensional stereotype .
Again , Serenityattempts to reframe these noir archetypes with its game turn , but mostly ends up making them feel even wacky than before . Still , despite its many shortcomings , there ’s some respectable craft on display here . Cinematographer Jess Hall does a nice job shoot the film ’s real - existence backcloth ( the island nation of Mauritius ) and draws from a rich colouring material palate to bring the island ’s sunny days , rainy nights , and rich blue sea to life . Benjamin Wallfisch ’s atmospheric mark further serves to set the humour throughout the celluloid and yield it much of its ominously enigmatic flavor . The only material problem with the movie , stylistically speaking , is that its redaction within scenes tends to experience disjointed , as though they were chopped up and cobbled back together to be as short as possible .
Knight has made high - concept picture that make for before ( seeLocke ) , but in this subject his big ideas plainly got away from him . This also explains whySerenitywent through a couple of handout particular date changes before its distributor make up one’s mind to plunge it in January , where it would have the best probability of succeeder contend against similarly campy , mussy , and/or just plain nonsensical movies at the box office . Those who desire to see the film but to find out how cracked it really is are dependable to await untilSerenityhis the home video securities industry in the not - too - distant hereafter - and who hump , they may even bask it without a tip of irony . As for everyone else : do n’t concern , there are brighter days beforehand , now that February ’s right around the recession .
Trailer
Serenityis now playing in U.S. theaters nationwide . It is 106 moment longsighted and is rat R for words throughout , sexual message , and some bloody images .
Serenity is a spectacular mystery thriller that follows Baker Dill , a fishing boat skipper haunted by a mystifying yesteryear . When Baker ’s ex-husband - married woman tracks him down with a dire plea for help to save their son , he finds himself wrestling with the dingy choice he may have to make to make unnecessary his son - toss him into a world that feels almost surreal .
Serenity is a dramatic mystery thriller that follows Baker Dill, a fishing boat captain haunted by a mysterious past. When Baker’s ex-wife tracks him down with a desperate plea for help to save their son, he finds himself wrestling with the dark choice he may have to make to save his son - tossing him into a world that feels almost surreal.
