Review: Carnage
When the parents of two boys who got into a playground fight arrange a meeting to discuss their sons’ behavior, manners and civility fly out the window as these adults begin to act a bit more like rash children themselves. Penelope (Jodie Foster) and Michael (John C. Reilly) are the sensitive, liberal parents of the attacked boy, who invite the other set of parents to their apartment to decide how to handle the situation. Alan (Christoph Waltz) and Nancy (Kate Winslet) are the professional-type parents of the other son, who clearly don’t want to be there.
In fact, after the simple introductory scene when we see the boys fight, the true content of the film starts with Alan and Nancy trying to leave the apartment and the conversation which apparently has already begun. Being promptly plopped down in the middle of the exchange is a somewhat jarring way to start the film, but it helps hook us right at the start by digging into the character development and tensions which have already begun to build.
This wasn’t the only risk director Roman Polanski took with his newest film, Carnage, which is based off of the acclaimed play Le Dieu du Carnage (God of Carnage) by Yasmina Reza, who also wrote the screenplay for the film. Polanski and Reza opted to maintain the location of the movie’s action, rather than taking advantage of broadening it for the film, as can be seen in other stage-to-screen works out now, such as The Ides of March or A Dangerous Method. Therefore, aside from seeing the boys fight in the first scene, the entire movie takes place in the living room of the apartment, with brief ventures into a bedroom, the bathroom, and the hallway. And the film also ends as it began, with the characters still in the apartment, still unresolved in their conflict.
Such decisions are potential threats to the moderate attention span most of us have when going to the movies, yet the film manages to maintain momentum for the most part, due largely to the great job done by the four actors brought on to deliver performances strong enough to breathe life into what is essentially an 80 minute conversation.
John C. Reilly stood out to me most, being the only actor out of the four not known for his dramatic films, but more for his high-concept comedies (Step Brothers, Walk Hard). I feared that a comedian trying to be serious would result in an over-serious, stiff presentation, much like his unmemorable turn as a father in the otherwise remarkable We Need to Talk About Kevin (I still can’t believe Tilda Swinton wasn’t nominated for an Oscar!). However, Reilly did outstanding in striking a balance between the gravity of the heated exchanges and providing moments of more light-hearted comedic relief.
Jodie Foster was fantastically unbearable portraying a rather self-righteous woman who experiences quite the breakdown as the film progresses and gives the most emotive performance of the movie. Christoph Waltz’s character was the most subtly portrayed, but added the most tension to the film as he is constantly taking work calls on his phone at the most inopportune times. Kate Winslet also does well, clearly enjoying her role as a woman who slowly begins to exercise some independence from her pompous husband.
The dynamics between all four is phenomenal, with Foster and Waltz have particularly great negative chemistry (in other words, their characters don’t like each other, and their performances makes us really believe it). But what becomes interesting as the film develops is that the conversation disintegrates from its initial couple-vs.-couple dynamic and shifts throughout the film, creating different match-ups of characters pitted against each other, the most humorous of which being men-vs.-women.
Ultimately, Carnage is a film that delivers four fantastic actors giving their very best. However, you never really shake the sense that this was first a stage-restricted play, making Carnage a long and often claustrophobic 80 minutes. But if you have the patience to watch a film that’s practically 100% character-driven dialogue in a single room, you won’t be disappointed.
The Final Word: Wait to rent it.
In fact, after the simple introductory scene when we see the boys fight, the true content of the film starts with Alan and Nancy trying to leave the apartment and the conversation which apparently has already begun. Being promptly plopped down in the middle of the exchange is a somewhat jarring way to start the film, but it helps hook us right at the start by digging into the character development and tensions which have already begun to build.
This wasn’t the only risk director Roman Polanski took with his newest film, Carnage, which is based off of the acclaimed play Le Dieu du Carnage (God of Carnage) by Yasmina Reza, who also wrote the screenplay for the film. Polanski and Reza opted to maintain the location of the movie’s action, rather than taking advantage of broadening it for the film, as can be seen in other stage-to-screen works out now, such as The Ides of March or A Dangerous Method. Therefore, aside from seeing the boys fight in the first scene, the entire movie takes place in the living room of the apartment, with brief ventures into a bedroom, the bathroom, and the hallway. And the film also ends as it began, with the characters still in the apartment, still unresolved in their conflict.
Such decisions are potential threats to the moderate attention span most of us have when going to the movies, yet the film manages to maintain momentum for the most part, due largely to the great job done by the four actors brought on to deliver performances strong enough to breathe life into what is essentially an 80 minute conversation.
John C. Reilly stood out to me most, being the only actor out of the four not known for his dramatic films, but more for his high-concept comedies (Step Brothers, Walk Hard). I feared that a comedian trying to be serious would result in an over-serious, stiff presentation, much like his unmemorable turn as a father in the otherwise remarkable We Need to Talk About Kevin (I still can’t believe Tilda Swinton wasn’t nominated for an Oscar!). However, Reilly did outstanding in striking a balance between the gravity of the heated exchanges and providing moments of more light-hearted comedic relief.
Jodie Foster was fantastically unbearable portraying a rather self-righteous woman who experiences quite the breakdown as the film progresses and gives the most emotive performance of the movie. Christoph Waltz’s character was the most subtly portrayed, but added the most tension to the film as he is constantly taking work calls on his phone at the most inopportune times. Kate Winslet also does well, clearly enjoying her role as a woman who slowly begins to exercise some independence from her pompous husband.
The dynamics between all four is phenomenal, with Foster and Waltz have particularly great negative chemistry (in other words, their characters don’t like each other, and their performances makes us really believe it). But what becomes interesting as the film develops is that the conversation disintegrates from its initial couple-vs.-couple dynamic and shifts throughout the film, creating different match-ups of characters pitted against each other, the most humorous of which being men-vs.-women.
Ultimately, Carnage is a film that delivers four fantastic actors giving their very best. However, you never really shake the sense that this was first a stage-restricted play, making Carnage a long and often claustrophobic 80 minutes. But if you have the patience to watch a film that’s practically 100% character-driven dialogue in a single room, you won’t be disappointed.
The Final Word: Wait to rent it.
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