Geeks logo

'Serenity': What We Know About the New Matthew McConaughey Movie

Matthew McConaughey's new movie opens nationwide on January 25.

By Sean PatrickPublished 5 years ago 3 min read
Like

Premise

Matthew McConaughey plays a fishing boat captain named Baker Dill who is approached by his ex-wife to murder her new husband.

Cast

Matthew McConaughey leads a cast that includes Anne Hathaway as his ex-wife, Karen who wants Baker to murder her new husband Frank (played by Jason Clarke who was most recently seen as Ted Kennedy in Chappaquiddick). Diane Lane plays Baker's new squeeze, while Djimon Hounsou plays a friend who warns Baker about his dangerous path. Jeremy Strong, the star of HBO's hit Succession plays a lawyer in the movie who is intriguingly portrayed as walking into the ocean holding a briefcase toward McConaughey in the trailer—his prim suit and glasses creating a strange and fascinating figure.

About the Director, Steven Knight

Serenity was written and directed by Steven Knight, an Englishman whose previous film was the fascinating, Locke, starring Tom Hardy. That film featured Hardy in the role of a man named Locke who spends the entire film behind the wheel of a car negotiating the plot via his cell phone. Knight did a tremendous job of using the limitations of his location for dramatic purposes in Locke. It should be interesting to see what Knight can do with an expanded set of locations in the Bahamas—far removed from the confines of the driver's seat of an SUV.

Interesting fact about Steven Knight: He was the creator of the original British version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, the series that would go on to become a global behemoth after being picked up in America and hosted by Regis Philbin. It's a strange origin story for a film auteur, but nevertheless, this experience gave Knight the credibility and cache to move into the directors chair. Everyone has to start somewhere.

Knight is also a prolific screenwriter. He wrote the terrifically underrated script for the unfortunately little seen Jessica Chastain drama Woman Walks Ahead. I greatly admired that script, though Jessica Chastain's performance, perhaps, elevated it. Knight was a great deal less successful with his scripts for the Bradley Cooper comedy Burnt, the Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard dud Allied, and the Tobey Maguire and Bobby Fischer chess drama Pawn Sacrifice.

What are the critics saying?

According to review aggregating site Rotten Tomatoes, reviews of Serenity are not kind—for the most part. The film is currently rated at 26 percent positive reviews. That said, some critics have nice things to say about it, including Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun Times who called the movie "ambitious" and "challenging."

Boston Globe critic Ty Burr wrote a review recommending Serenity, though he strikes a somewhat satirical tone in writing that audiences should see Serenity for the "delirious nonsense of Diane Lane's performance."

Negative reviews read with a great deal of relish and nastiness. In her negative take, Seattle Times critic Moira McDonald said of Serenity, "This movie has tuna in its head."

Critic Chris Bumbray called Serenity "incredibly goofy," and he's not the only one to evoke the name of the Disney character as a criticism of the plot and twists of Serenity.

Not to Be Confused with the 2005 Film

Fans of cult sci-fi adventure might recognize the title. Serenity was the title of the 2005 movie based on the cult television series Firefly. That film starred Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk, Summer Glau, and future Academy Award nominee, Chiwetel Ejiofor. Serenity 2019 can only hope to achieve the critical success of Serenity 2005, which earned positive reviews from 83 percent of critics. That said, the makers of Serenity 2019 will have to hope they can beat Serenity 2005 at the box office. That film bombed, making only $38 million on a budget of $40 million. Serenity 2019 has a much smaller hill to climb to box office success with a modest $25 million budget.

movie
Like

About the Creator

Sean Patrick

Hello, my name is Sean Patrick He/Him, and I am a film critic and podcast host for the I Hate Critics Movie Review Podcast I am a voting member of the Critics Choice Association, the group behind the annual Critics Choice Awards.

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.