Review of Carnage (2002) by Kurt F — 28 Jan 2013

Just watched Carnage. 2011 film by Roman Polanski. Based on the Tony award winning play by Yasmina Reza called Gods of Carnage, originally 'Le Dieu du Carnage' in its original French.

This makes 4 Roman Polanski films I've seen.

Macbeth.

Chinatown.

The Pianist.

And now Carnage.

It's been a while since I've seen a recent film based on a play. A film that is essentially one location with only one group of characters that we stay with for the duration. It is SUCH a change of pace from typical films based on books or original screenplays.

2 sets of parents:

Upper class: Christoph Waltz and Kate Winslet.

Middle class: John C. Reily and Jodie Foster.

The upper class family's son hit the other's son in the face with a stick, knocking 2 of his teeth out.

The film and play is a meeting of the parents where they discuss the ins and outs of what happened, eventually argue, drink and pretty much explode.

The film is about the parents as couples rather than parents. I honestly thought the film and play were about a dissection of childhood violence and bullying. It's actually about how their children's "adult" behavior results in making the parents act like children. It's pretty ingenious.

This is a film that rests on its cast. And it had an excellent one. The play had a tremendous ensemble as well. On Broadway the roles were played by Jeff Daniels, James Gandolfini, Hope Davis and Marcia Gay Harden. While I kinda wish Polanski had cast THEM in the roles, the actors in the film are just fine.

John C. Reily may be the most surprising of the 4. The other 3 have 4 Oscars between them, so I wasn't surprised that they gave good performances. But Reily has been a comedian as of late. To see him in a funny, yet dramatic role like this was terrific. I would have liked to see him got an Oscar nomination for the film.

If there's a weak link in the cast... I'm sorry to say it, as I'm a fan of hers. But Jodie Foster is it. She's very good. But I KNOW that Marcia Gay Harden would have acted Foster off the screen in THIS role. It's odd to see Foster playing such a weak sort of character, and by weak, I mean in comparison to a lot of her other roles. Strong women in fearsome situations. Seeing her in Panic Room a few weeks ago, for example.

Winslet's great, although when she eventually gets drunk out of her mind, she started to get more erratic and silly. I prefered the character when he was sober and just angry.

Waltz, one of the best actors alive right now as far as I'm concerned. He gets the least drunk of the 4 and hence gets the least crazy. I wish HE got more crazy, but then again, Waltz seems to be at his best when playing it cool.

Again, I didn't expect the film I got. What I thought would be an issue-based film turned out to be more of a drama. And quite funny in parts.

Minus the end credits and this is a 75 minute film. It's shorter than a lot of TV pilots.

There's really no excuse not to see the film. If you're a fan of the play, of Polanski or any of the 4 actors. Go check it out.

One of the better films of 2011.