It’s only January. There are plenty of gloriously WTF movies to come — The Book of Henry and Gotti, the two most transcendently bad films in recent memory, were both released in June — but it’s going to be tough for anything to out-ridiculous Serenity. For one thing, Matthew McConaughey plays a fisherman named Baker Dill. He’s approached by his ex-wife (Anne Hathaway, the queen of knowing exactly what kind of movie she’s in; see: Ocean’s 8), to murder her current husband, who’s abusive to her and the son she had with Baker. I won’t reveal anything else about the plot, other than something happens that left me slack-jawed (I’m not the only one) and there’s a fish named “Justice.” So, yeah, you should see Serenity as soon as possible before it’s out of theaters, due to audience indifference and savage reviews.
Hathaway defended the film on Instagram from the critical beatdown it’s taking, writing, “We keep it real around here: some critics get [Serenity] and, like me, find it interesting, moving, ambitious and different, and for some it just doesn’t work. That’s cool — there is no failure, only learned events, not everyone has to like everything, and the critical response doesn’t change my feelings about the movie.” The Colossal actress continued, “However, other people’s time and money are not to be taken for granted, so I just want to be clear: I endorse the movie, many critics don’t.” Serenity is currently rocking a 21 percent (not) “Fresh” rating among critics on Rotten Tomatoes. That’s one thing, but it’s another when only 30 percent of the audience liked it. I don’t know what they were expecting from a film that showed McConaughey’s tanned butt, like, four times, but I had a blast.
Rex Reed says about #serenity: "At the critics’ screening I attended, the audience was reduced to hysterics."
— Mick LaSalle (@MickLaSalle) January 25, 2019
As if to distract from the poor reviews, Hathaway revealed on Watch What Happens Live that there’s a script for a third Princess Diaries movie, and that “I want to do it. Julie [Andrews] wants to do it. Debra Martin Chase, our producer, wants to do it. We all really want it to happen… It’s just we don’t want to unless it’s perfect because we love it just as much as you guys love it. It’s as important to us as it is to you, and we don’t want to deliver anything until it’s ready.”
(Via Instagram)
