It’s Depression-era North Carolina…the Smokey Mountains…where the future of George Pemberton (Bradley Cooper’s) timber empire struggles. But it might just struggle more if he marries Serena (Jennifer Lawrence.)
We liked Cooper in The Hangover. And we liked him in Silver Lining Playbook. Now we have an entire new genre to like him in. Re-teaming with Jennifer Lawrence, Cooper taps into his romantic self, as he did in The Words, a not-so-successful film with a twisted love dynamic.
In this, the story opens like his trigger-friendly performance in American Sniper. In hunting, Cooper’s character Pemberton seems to find power and an emotional place to escape into the woods.
But when he sees a woman on horseback named Serena, learning she has a tragic past and a father who was a great Timber man, Cooper says “Hello” to Serena and suggests they be married. And she’s like the perfect match.com “mad for trees, can swing an ax and not ‘notch’ so high in the bark.” What could be better?
The two have fantasies of mahogany wood in Brazil that’s as untouched as the depths of their relationship. Despite an enticing setup, the audience will feel the two are keeping distance because of secrets. And they are…
There’s more than meets the eye in this slow moving drama. Blackmail, treason, jealousy and a little denial over an existing child add fuel to the plot but never ignite it.
Cooper and Lawrence’s performances try to be melodic and romantic but they turn out robotic. Only the ending has a collected moment of all the story lines, but it’s not enough to save this 2 tiara film.