Serenity

When I first saw the trailer for Serenity back in summer 2018 I was certainly intrigued. Then it was pushed back many months from its original release date but I still looked forward to finally seeing the movie. Well I can say now that after some thought, I enjoyed the film. It was spoiled for me mildly in the sense that I knew an off the wall twist was in the cards. Boy was that twist a wild one.

Serenity starts out a little wonky with the first 20 minutes or so having some unintentional laugh out loud moments. However once it gets going it becomes very intriguing and had me fully engaged. When the left field insane twist is revealed, I was impressed by the sheer nerve of it all. Sure it's beyond over the top, but having the audacity to do it is a thing to admire.

The acting is both good and bad at times. The whole movie always just feels a little off and bizarre, which I somewhat appreciate. Make no mistake about it though this work is not a masterpiece. Serenity has its share of faults and the ending could very well be one of them in some ways. Besides that it's also a messy script with some big head scratchers and horrible lines.

With that being said we need more wide release movies with quality actors taking chances and giving us something original. In a way the film is throwback to the 70's and 80's when we saw wide released movies taking experimental chances.

Go give it a watch, love it or hate I think this work is something any true film fan will tip their cap to.

I agree with the previous reviewers: until the twist occurs the movie does well. McConaughey is always great to watch and is very convincing. The "Old man and the sea" premise is also passable, as is Anne Hathaway. But after the twist the movie becomes a mess. The result is mediocre at best. Not a good drama, not a good thriller, and so-so mystery/fantasy. I only recommend it to the fans of Matthew McConaughey, otherwise, save your time.

Baker Dill (Matthew McConaughey) is a fishing boat captain obsessed with catching one particular tuna fish. He pushes aside his own tour customer to catch the fish and his assistant Duke (Djimon Hounsou) quits. Constance (Diane Lane) gives him money in exchange for sex. His ex-wife Karen (Anne Hathaway) tracks him down despite his fake identity. She is willing to pay him $10 million to kill her husband Frank Zariakas (Jason Clarke) who abuses her and Baker's son Patrick.

The first half seems to be trying for Hitchcock but various mannerisms and unreality kept dragging it down. One could see the changes needed to keep this on track better. Then the skinny guy shows up with the suitcase. The story takes a left turn. I'm still no in love with the twist. I do appreciate that it made the movie more cohesive. This is not the best. I'd rather have it go straight but I'm willing to give the twist some leeway.

My wife and I watched this movie at home on BluRay from our public library. It is set either on an island off the Florida coast, or a nearby Caribbean Island where US money is used, but is actually filmed in Mauritius east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. Lots of background music is Louisiana Cajun music, an interesting combination.

This movie is really interesting and good but has a somewhat low IMDb rating because many viewers expected a straightforward narrative, I suppose. The opening shot gives us a hint of what is happening, the face of a young teenage boy, then into his eye, which expands to a fishing boat in the ocean. The captain of that boat, the Serenity, is Matthew McConaughey as Baker Dill.

The details can be gleaned by reading any of several user reviews with "Spoilers", suffice to say it has elements that reminded me of movies like "Frequency", "Inception", and "The Matrix." It is woven together well as a young boy, a genius in computer games, tries to deal with an abusive stepfather. But not everything is as we see it.

Both of us enjoyed the movie. I particularly like McConaughey and he is really good in this role.

I gave it a 5 just because of Matthew. The beginning was kinda slow and I was ready to go to bed and then it became interesting, even thrilling. A moral dilemma, is it ok to do somethin wrong for a good cause? My kindda movie! And just when I was ready for a good thriller, a twist came and ruined it. The idea would be ok if the whole movie went a bit deeper in characterisation and inner feelings of protagonist. This way movie is mish mash of everything and in the end turned out to nothing. Disappointment.