TOXIC DARREN DENTS J-LAW’S CAREER

Jennifer and Darren at the Venice Film Festival premiere of Mother!. Right: a scene from the film

Their relationship has attracted more than its fair share of detractors. Now it seems Jennifer Lawrence and Darren Aronofsky’s first professional collaboration has proven equally contentious.

Last week, their film Mother! (in which Darren directs and Jennifer stars) bombed at the box office. With a budget of $30m it was projected to gross $14m in its opening weekend, but took just half that – an all-time low for a big release from Jennifer. It also received an ‘F’ from market-research firm Cinemascore, which polls audiences and grades the results from A to F. These grades tend to be a good indicator of box-office success – with only 12 other films in history being awarded the dreaded lowest score.

Many professional critics were equally unimpressed. Website Vulture called it ‘second-rate and self-aggrandising’, adding, ‘It puts Jennifer Lawrence through the mill for no purpose except nurturing a strain of masochism... I’d hate to think of her as just another doll for a director to torture.’ The New York Observer was even less enamoured, announcing, ‘This delusional freak show is two hours of pretentious twaddle... I hesitate to label it the “Worst movie of the year” when “Worst movie of the century” fits it even better.’ As the film is about a self-serving 48-year-old artist and his 27-year-old muse, many drew unfavourable comparisons between the central characters and Darren’s relationship with Jennifer (he’s 48; she’s 27).

Having torn her diaphragm during filming, in an interview with the BBC Darren admitted that Jennifer ‘started to lose it’ during the Venice screening, such was her distress at re-watching the violent scenes. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that last week she told the US Today show that she now intends to take an extended break from acting, saying, ‘I don’t have anything set for two years.’ It’s quite a turn-around for the Oscar-winner, who has starred in at least one movie a year for the last seven years.

According to one insider, ‘Jennifer’s close circle of advisors are panicked about the backlash to Mother! and are urging her to put a bit of distance between herself and Darren, who has something of a toxic reputation. Since they met he has acted as a mentor and steered her career, but there is mounting concern that she no longer appears the free spirit that made her Hollywood’s most bankable star. For one of her films to bomb so spectacularly is unprecedented and risks severely denting her box-office draw. They also worry that she seems more introverted and the fact she’s speaking about turning away from acting indefinitely has caused alarm.’

The source continued, ‘The problem is that Jennifer is incredibly loyal to Darren. If it comes to a choice between her career or Darren, not everyone is convinced that she will choose her career.’