Director: Roman Polanski
Year: 2011
Stars: Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, John C Reilly, Christoph Waltz
It's the beginning of December, so I should be watching bad (or even good) Christmas movies. Instead, I'm catching up on one of those movies I missed when it was released at the cinema, but was really keen to see. As far as I remember, it got fairly good reviews, but was criticised for feeling a little too like it should have been set on a stage - which was no great surprise, as Carnage is adapted from a stage play.
Penelope and Michael Longstreet (Foster and Reilly) are the parents of Ethan, a boy who has been physically bullied by Nancy and Alan Cowan's (Winslet and Waltz) child. The Longstreets invite the Cowans around to discuss the matter, but the meeting turns into what I guess you could call carnage.
The criticisms about Carnage are fair; it does feel exactly like this whole (short) movie should be set on a stage. It doesn't help massively that none of the characters are particularly likeable, so there's not really anybody to side with (although the acting is, on the whole, remarkably good, with nobody letting the side down). The other problem, for me, was that there was no closure. Everything just stopped. I guess that's kind of like real life, but at least in most movies (and often in life) people get to leave the house, or have a final word, or just give in. Here, everything just seems to carry on. You're just not watching it anymore.
Carnage isn't the worst movie I've ever seen, and it did keep me engaged for the full 80 minutes, but I am glad it was that short - and wouldn't recommend watching it if you're already feeling down. Unless, of course, you want to be reminded that your life isn't so bad after all.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
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