Serenity - L'isola dell'inganno

Before you get mad about the score I'm giving this beautiful mess of a film, please keep in mind that I rate things on a scale of how entertained they kept me as opposed to how "good" they actually were.

That being said, this movie is not anywhere close to good. In fact, it may even be outright bad. But I'll be damned if there was a single moment in the film where I was less than entertained. I laughed more during the course of Serenity's runtime than I did at a good majority of last year's intentional comedies.

The performances were attempting to evoke a noir feel but came across more John Waters and the camp factor alone was a fascinating hybrid of cringy and hysterical. From Matthew McConaughey drinking during nearly every frame of the movie to Anne Hathaway saying "daddy" every other line, I won't forget their acting any time soon.

The plot is a convoluted mess and some of the turns it took won't be well-received but who cares? By the time the "twists" twisted, I was already so engrossed by this deranged piece of filmmaking that I didn't mind one bit.

Go with incredibly low expectations, try to lose yourself in the strange spell Serenity weaves, and you might just have as good a time as we did.

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 really enjoyed the plot line to this movie as well as being on point with the message it delivered, different to the usual Hollywood marvel movies which seems to be on a production line or the movies with an agenda. This is well worth a watch.

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.

This film would have turned out a lot better if it just stuck to its advertised plot. The ludicrous twist that occurs completely derails the movie and makes everything that comes after it essentially pointless. While I appreciate an original idea out of Hollywood, this was just bizarre. Some of the dialogue is unintentionally hilarious and the whole film just feels off. It's a shame so many talented actors were wasted in this.