Review of Carousel (2013) by Philip Z — 09 Dec 2013

This film has a lot of problems least of which is the awe-inspiring musical score. I love the songs, the staging of the numbers, and the production design is truly a marvel. Unfortunately, the human element falls flat on its face.

I hate the characters. Billy is a cantankerous, self-absorbed sonofabitch and his wife is a weakling who takes his guff with a smile. I wanted to smack sense into her, and I wanted to beat the stuffing out of Billy.

It's giving absolutely nothing away that Billy dies in this movie, you know that within the first five minutes, but given the way that this man is, you're actually glad to see him die. You get the odd feeling that now Julie has a shot at true happiness because she's no longer dealing with the greasy louse who knocked her up.

Then again, Julie seems to be the sort of woman who will make all sorts of excuses for her man's lousy treatment of her, she's nothing more than a victimized and battered housewife who has deluded herself into thinking that he doesn't really mean it.

It'd be fine if this movie were actually saying something profound and meaningful about abusive marriages, but the filmmakers seem to be trying for another It's a Wonderful Life, a movie about magical realism and second chances.

The problem is that since we hate Billy, we don't really want to see him get his wish, because we know in our guts that the people he left behind are better off without him.