Serenity

Yikes! Winning awards recognition seems to send some actors down the wrong path; maybe there’s nowhere further to go in terms of credibility, or maybe the bankability of a performer reaches the point where money drowns out sense. Either way, Matthew McConaughey’s attempts to destroy his own considerable reputation as an Oscar-winning actor reach midlife-crisis Nicolas Cage levels with writer/director Steven Knight’s Serenity, a twisty-turny sea-bound thriller that jumps the shark in brain-bending style.

The trailers promise a straightforward Dead Calm murder-mystery, with the star bringing his handsome good looks to the role of Baker Dill, a sea-captain eking out a living on his boat Serenity in and around the posh resort of Plymouth Island. Femme fatale Karen (an OTT Anne Hathaway) seems to be luring him into something, but what? When Karen’s boorish husband Frank (Jason Clarke) turns up, Baker Dill sees a chance to set Karen free, but is she all that she seems?

Once the final twist of Serenity has unspooled, audiences are likely to feel that none of the characters are what they seem, and not in a good way; I guess enough years have passed to add a few spoilers here and reveal that Baker Dill discovers that he is actually part of a video game simulation, and while that’s a twist that might have worked on paper, it really doesn’t work at all in Serenity, and it still doesn’t work in last years Harry Styles shambles Don’t Worry Darling. ‘We are such stuff as dreams are made of’ says Jeremy Strong who, like Diane Lane, probably just can’t believe they got dragged into this…’

Films like The Magus or Jacob’s Ladder have toyed with varying degrees of success with the nature of reality, but the over-heated melodrama in Serenity gives way to abstract cosmic ruminations in a glib, silly way that should provoke mirth in all those unlucky enough to set sail with her crew. That said, a top cast and plush production values help give Serenity some kind of attractive sheen, but as far as making any sense goes, as Hudson said in Aliens, it’s game over, man. game over.