Filmed in the Czech Republic more than two years ago, the American Depression-era drama 'Serena' took a long time to get to the big screen, during which time its stars Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence were nominated for Oscars in two other films together: 'Silver Linings Playbook' (for which Lawrence won Best Actress) and American Hustle.

Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper in 'Serena'
Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper re-unite on screen with 'Serena'

Directed by Oscar-winning Danish filmmaker Susanne Bier ('In a Better World'), the film is a sweeping romance set in the wilds of Carolina's Smoky Mountains, based on the novel by Ron Rash. It's a complicated story with plenty of subtle textures that are ideally suited to Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, as well as fine supporting players like Toby Jones, Rhys Ifans and Sean Harris. But the film's postponed release has sparked some bad buzz, as people wondered about the delay, which usually indicates some significant tinkering by the studios. And that's rarely a good thing.

More: Read our review for 'Serena'

In this case the explanation is rather simpler. During filming, there was a slight problem with the fact that airplanes were flying overhead during the shooting. Obviously unsuitable for a film set in 1920s America, it would be easy enough to avoid catching them on camera, but the sound of them disrupted the dialogue. Normally, the simple solution is to re-record the dialogue later and drop it in. But Lawrence has been working non-stop since filming 'Serena', and buying her out of a few days filming on 'The Hunger Games' would have cost the filmmakers more than the entire budget of 'Serena'. So they had to wait until she was finished shooting several films back-to-back.

More: Watch the trailer for 'Serena'

That said, critics have commented that the film seems excessively edited, most notably in the second half when the narrative seems to rush past in a bit of a blur. Whether audiences will mind is another question.

More: Cooper and Lawrence appeared together in 'Silver Linings Playbook'