Review of Carnage (2011) by Liam C — 16 Oct 2014

It's nice actually having seen one the original productions before watching the film version and I have to say that Carnage is a very good translation from stage to screen that certainly feels more intense than the original production.

This is a very faithful adaptation of the play, while the film might be shorter than the production by 10 minutes, it still has all the key scenes you'd expect but still manages to make you sit on pins and needles. Even though I knew everything that was coming I was still on the edge of my seat throughout the film. The different actors certainly do bring a fresh, new take on it and they all do a fantastic job, not just Jodie Foster and Kate Winslet. Kate Winslet felt a little bit staged at the start, which makes sense, but she felt a little fake for a little bit at the start but soon after she fell into place and they all bounced off of each other brilliantly.

Christoph Waltz taking on Jeff Daniels role was brilliant and both characters remain the highlight. Waltz plays him with a bit more arrogance as opposed to just being disinterested, he was still disinterested with what was going on but because of the way he was acting, he seemed to be going out of his way to fan the flames and he has a great sense of humor. It would have been interesting to see Matt Dillon in John C. Reilly's role, though.

I still find it amazing how they wrote a way for the characters to still stay in that apartment, anyone else would have just left but there's always that one line that makes the other couple just come back and start having an argument. The film still has the great dialogue that we love whilst making us laugh. One thing I did notice is that the film does seem to be a lot more serious than the production did. While it certainly isn't a bad thing, it fits it a lot better in my opinion, it is just something I noticed, but I laughed quite frequently throughout, so it isn't a negative. The film had good music too and we finally find out what happened to the hamster!

I can't think of any complaints, it is a very good adaptation of the production but at the same time it is a very good standalone film with very memorable moments, a very dark sense of humor; brilliant, masterclass acting form all 4 leads and sizzling dialogue. It's a very lean film just barely being an hour 20 but it is totally engrossing throughout and totally enjoyable. It knows what it is, makes the thought provoking points it wants to make and doesn't stay any longer than it needs to, even though it would be awesome to just see more of these people arguing with each other.