Jennifer Lawrence Brings Some Old-School Glamour to the London 'Serena' Premiere
Lawrence at the ‘Serena’ premiere during the 58th BFI London Film Festival on October 13, 2014
The only thing more surprising than Serena getting a red-carpet premiere at the London Film Festival was the fact that star Jennifer Lawrence was there to support it.
But there the actress was, sporting wavy blonde hair reminiscent of the glamorous period style she wears in the movie. She went similarly old school with a simple, but sexy tuxedo-inspired dress that had a plunging, cleavage-baring neckline, as she smiled for the cameras before the long-awaited first screening of the mystery movie.
It was supposed to be the third film in the Jennifer Lawrence-Bradley Cooper trilogy, shot in between their David O. Russell-directed collaborations Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle. But the film, a late-1920’s melodrama directed by Oscar-winner Susan Biers that pairs the stars as wealthy couple, got caught up in post-production hell — in large part, apparently, because it was a mess.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, several deals with distributors fell apart despite the producers screening three different edits; all the chopping and pasting may have done more harm than good, as one buyer told THR that the film “was so edited, it made no sense.”
Finally, Magnolia Pictures became the default distributor, due to the fact that sister company 2929 Productions financed the thing. As such, it was ready for promotion, which led to the premiere in London.
Related: Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper’s Long-Delayed ‘Serena’ Continues to Battle Bad Buzz
Given the nearly three years of drama surrounding the flick, reviews are less harsh than expected.
“An arrestingly nihilistic Depression melodrama, marked by courageous performances and exquisite production values, this story of a timber-industry power couple undone by financial and personal corruption nonetheless boasts neither a narrative impetus nor a perceptible objective,” Variety’s critic, Guy Lodge, wrote on Monday. “The result is both problematic and fascinating, an unsympathetic spiral of human tragedy that plays a little like a hand-me-down folk ballad put to film. It’s not hard to see why a U.S. distributor has been slow to step forward.”
“This is a film full of unremarkable compromises — the kind that result in a bland film rather than a bad one,” wrote a critic reviewing the film for Vulture. “One of Bier’s major preoccupations is the evolution of Serena from an ambitious careerist into a ruthless manipulator, and a better film would have teased out this transformation over time.“
The film will be released in the US in 2015, some time in the first quarter: a traditional dumping ground for failed Oscar bait and big budget misfires. But it should do little to harm the career of its stars, especially Lawrence, who will once again lead the critical and financial juggernaut Hunger Games franchise in November.
Watch the film’s trailer below:
Photo credit: Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images; ©StudioCanal
