I went through a Colleen Hoover phase a few years ago (it was a strange time) and, out of all the books I read, Verity was my favorite so I was excited to see the movie adaptation at an early access screening last night with my nephew. Despite several flaws, I enjoyed it for what it is and I had a lot of fun watching it with a large crowd. Verity Crawford (Anne Hathaway) is a best-selling author known for writing a series of novels from the villain's perspective. After she has a car accident which leaves her in a catatonic state, her husband Jeremy Crawford (Josh Hartnett) hires struggling author Lowen Ashleigh (Dakota Johnson) to ghostwrite the remaining books in the series. Lowen moves into their secluded house on a lake in Vermont in order to read through Verity's outlines and notes and finds a manuscript that appears to be her autobiography. As she reads Verity's disturbing account, she begins a relationship with Jeremy and suspects that Verity might be faking her condition. This reminded me a lot of The Housemaid because, like that adaptation, it is an atmospheric psychological thriller with a sleek and stylish production design (I loved the house because it has a very Gothic vibe) and lots of twists and turns. Also, like that adaptation, it features a riveting performance from Hathaway as the manipulative writer and a sexy one from Hartnett as the grieving husband which both serve to highlight the blandness of Johnson's turn as Verity's replacement. This is especially true whenever Johnson reads the manuscript aloud (which, unfortunately, is a large part of the runtime) because her delivery is monotone and her expression is very disengaged (there is even a line in which Lowen says that it's hard to tell if she is having fun because she has "resting bored face" and it got the biggest laugh of the night). I do think Johnson is a good actress when she has the right material to elevate her performance but this is based on a book you can buy at the airport (iykyk). Still, I think this is a faithful adaptation (except for a change to the ending that makes absolutely no sense) that fans of the book are sure to love.
Note: The scenes where Verity appears on Hot Ones and Call Her Daddy are hilarious.
