Review of Carol (1990) by Leon B — 27 Mar 2016

Review:

This is another one of those overrated movies which I didn't really enjoy! The acting is superb from Cate Blanchett, (Carol), and the whole look and feel of the film is well put together but the storyline was extremely boring. I was intrigued with Carol, who had a sketchy past, which never comes to light but Therese (Rooney Mara), seemed a bit dead to me. She doesn't really come out of her shell throughout the whole movie, even when Carol goes missing and leaves her in the hotel room with her friend, and the ending was pretty weak. As I'm not one for period dramas, I did go into this movie with an open mind, after reading all of the great reviews but I really couldn't get into the love story between Carol and Therese. I liked the concept about Carol losing her child, with her husband spying on her, whilst trying to get back with her but I struggled to keep awake through the rest of the film. The question that never got answered was; Is Carol a lesbian or not? She obviously loved Therese, in her own type of way but as she said in the letter that she wrote to her, she was a young gullible girl who really needed to grow up. Anyway, the pace of the film is really slow and there isn't enough material to keep the movie interesting. Blanchett was definitely the perfect choice for the leading role and I did feel a sense of intensity at some points of the film but for a 2 hour movie, there wasn't much depth to the characters and the love story takes ages to get going. Disappointing!

Round-Up:

Surprisingly enough, this movie was up for 6 Academy awards and 5 Golden Globes but it didn't win, in any of the categories. Understandably, Cate Blanchett was up for best actress in a leading role, which she lost out to Brie Larson in Room but she has 2 Oscars already, for the Aviator and Blue Jasmine. Anyway, Carol was actually a real person called Virginia Kent Catherwood, who had an affair with an author called Patricia Highsmith, and lost custody of her daughter after her homosexuality was used against her with a tape recording of a lesbian liaison she had in a hotel room, so there is some truth to the storyline. The movie was directed by Todd Haynes, 55, who brought you Safe in 1995, Velvet Goldmine, Far From Heaven and the warped I'm Not There, which also starred Cate Blanchett, dressed up at Bob Dylan. Although this movie went down well with critics, I failed to get the moral of the story and it seemed like it was going round and round in circles. .

Budget: $12million.

Worldwide Gross: $40million.

I recommend this movie to people who are into their romance/dramas starring Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Kyle Chandler, Jake Lacy, Sarah Paulson and John Magaro. 4/10.