FILM REVIEW – Verity Starring Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson

Fatal Attraction

“Don’t tell me this movie is about to end.” Usually when I say that sentence, it means the movie is so good I yearn for more cinematic minutes. In this case, I couldn’t wait for it to end my misery. Others around me laughed when I said it, indicating I was probably not the only one thinking the very same thought. Verity is based off an extremely popular book written by Colleen Hoover. I wanted to read the book, but didn’t have time. I’d like to personally thank my busy schedule for keeping me off the tracks of this train wreck.

The worst part is this is a guilty favorite genre of mine. Give me pulp. Give me seduction. Give me bad plot points that I will forget immediately upon exiting the theater. I think there is a sort of liberation to showcase violence on screen with the pulpiness of a pomegranate that is bursting to stain your white shirt. In Verity, there certainly is violence, but to what point? It is simply there, which made it lean towards a more offensive tone. I thought we were trying to be more careful at the level of serious violence towards women onscreen? It certainly felt like a film directed by a man based on a book written by a woman. Everyone is taking things too seriously, and that’s seriously disappointing.

Gone Girl

Dakota Johnson (Materialists) plays Lowen Ashleigh, an author looking for her big break. We first see her reading at Books Are Magic, a wonderful Brooklyn bookstore chain. She then witnesses someone getting hit by a car before bumping into Jeremy Crawford (a sigh-worthy Josh Hartnett). Lowen does not realize he is the husband of infamous author Verity Crawford (Anne Hathaway, doing her best). She discovers this at a meeting to discuss her next project. What is the project, you say? Help Verity write her next series of books. It is super secret because, of course, Verity has a super secret. I would say I don’t want to ruin anything about the plot, but I feel like I am doing a service to you. I expect thank-you notes in my inbox.

The film dives into love triangle territory, along with parental abandonment and other gaping plot holes that I don’t even care to remember. But don’t worry, there are “twists”. Eye roll.

While You Were Sleeping

Let me get this off my chest: I am a big Dakota Johnson fan. I love Materialists and find that if paired with the right director, her subtle acting can be quite effective. Here, though, she is robbed of any sort of relief. There is a moment where she gives the peace sign to another character. Think Millennial Cringe combined with gasoline, where the creative team is holding a lit match in front of our eyes. One of the biggest moments in the film is almost immediately deflated by line delivery that would make the Spotify DJ come across as Paul Giamatti.

Everyone is taking things too seriously! The target audience likes these books because they touch on huge, intense themes just far enough away to find them entertaining. Last year’s The Housemaid immediately comes to mind. Amanda Seyfried led a cast that knew exactly the tone set by the book. Here it feels as though Anne Hathaway is leading everyone to what they think is great, but it ends up just being a bottomless pit.

The seriousness of it all has the violence against women come across as cold. The most surprising thought I had at the end was just how offended I felt during it. The violence in The Housemaid worked because the whole thing was very playful in the world it built. Verity holds our heads and shakes them, practically begging for us to see straight at the same time.

One redeeming quality is the set. The house was full of sharp, literal angles. It felt obvious that these points represented a location you can’t trust, but at least it was nice to look at.

I don’t really want to talk about Josh Hartnett. Yawn.

The most frustrating thing about the film is that I am both bored and frustrated writing about it. Bored enough that I don’t even remember some of the plot points, but frustrated enough to keep writing down what I kept thinking and resenting about the film. People like to say “I couldn’t put this book down!” If Verity the book is on the same level as the film, I’d be screaming “I couldn’t pick this book up!”