Serena

Following Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle, Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence reunited for this Depression-era drama directed by Susanne Bier (Brothers) and based on Ron Rash's novel. After a whirlwind courtship, Lawrence joins husband Cooper in North Carolina and becomes a driving force in his timber business. But a child he has had with an employee haunts their relationship. Bier hastens through the first act and, sadly, the whole story feels abbreviated. Lawrence is sensationally attired throughout and has an eventful arc, but Sean Harris, Rhys Ifans and Toby Jones are squandered in roles that do little more than advance the plot. There's pulse-racing peril at the close and a visual lustre that sees autumn become winter and love turn cold. Elegant but underdeveloped, Serena feels like the bare bones of a magnificent tragedy. Still, there are enough flashes of the film it might have been to make it worth watching.