“Verity”
(USA)
Metacritic (3/10), Letterboxd (1.5/5), Imdb.com (3/10), TMDB.com (3/10), Imdb.com critics review
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A movie that bills itself as more than it turns out to be has got to be guilty of one of the most egregious sins in filmmaking, and director Michael Showalter’s screen adaptation of this best-selling novel by author Colleen Hoover qualifies on virtually all fronts. Although touted as a dark, erotic psychological thriller, this offering is none of those things. In fact, it barely passes as fare that one might find on the Lifetime cable TV network. When famed novelist Verity Crawford (Anne Hathaway) is severely injured in a car accident, her publisher (K.K. Moggie) looks to hire a ghostwriter to stand in for her to finish several titles in her current book series while (or if) she recovers. Crawford’s husband, Jeremy (Josh Hartnett), recommends the job go to a struggling, little-known aspiring writer, Lowen Ashleigh (Dakota Johnson), whom he inexplicably believes is best capable of mimicking his wife’s prosaic style. Although somewhat intimidated at the prospect of this offer, Lowen nevertheless accepts it and relocates from New York to the Crawfords’ Vermont home, where she has access to the novelist’s extensive notes and research materials. But, once there, the clueless stand-in finds herself embroiled in a scenario full of mysteries, confessions and intrigue involving the Crawfords’ personal and professional lives. What’s more, she unwittingly becomes involved in matters of infidelity (lukewarm though it may be), solving the conundrum of Verity’s true health status, and getting to the bottom of the allegedly accidental drowning of her young daughter (Sienna Kulovitz), a mystery shrouded in details as murky as the lake where it happened. These circumstances also prompt the emergence of new ambitions by all concerned, even if they frequently come out of left field. Potentially speaking, there should have been enough to work with here to make for a steamy noir-esque potboiler or, in the alternative, a deliciously campy romp. Regrettably, though, it’s neither of those things. On the contrary, “Verity” is boring, implausible and lacking in all of the qualities it was erroneously imbued with. The clunky, plot hole-filled writing is the prime culprit here, but the abysmal casting knocks the project down more than a few pegs, too. While Hathaway turns in her usual capable work, it’s vastly overshadowed by the remarkably underwhelming performance of Hartnett and the positively dreadful monotone portrayal of Johnson, who treats her character with the same deadpan, dispassionate handling as she did in the “Fifty Shades of Grey” trilogy (2015-2018). Moreover, were it not for the stunning visuals of the Vermont landscape (particularly in winter) and the stylish appointments of the designer home in which most of the story is set, there’s really not much else to see (or like) in this absolute utter snoozefest. How this title ever got out of pre-production is beyond me, but, if your expectations are low, this just might be to your liking – that is, if there’s nothing to watch on Lifetime.