Carnage (2011)

Jodie Foster and Kate Winslet, Carnage (2011)

Directed by: Roman Polanski
Starring: Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz, John C. Reilly


On March 22, 2009, a play called God of Carnage premiered on Broadway. It went on that year to be nominated for six Tony Awards, and to win three -- Best Play, Best Director, and Best Leading Actress in a Play. Recently, a movie adaptation began circulating around, this time entitled just Carnage, starring the four talented Thespians listed above. Unfortunately, it isn't likely that the film will emulate its stage counterpart's awards success, but it is noteworthy, nevertheless.

The film revolves around two couples -- the Longstreets (Jodie Foster and John C. Reilly) and the Cowans (Kate Winslet and Christoph Waltz) -- as they meet to act as, for lack of a better term, diplomats for their children. It turns out that the Cowans' son has hit the Longstreets' son with a stick, knocking out two teeth. And when the two couples begin to disagree on how the perpetrator should be punished, well... all heck begins to break loose.

The most off-putting aspect of this film is the fact that it seems to be almost directly translated from play to movie. There is only one scene: it begins with Jodie Foster's Penelope drawing up a contract, and from that point on it is constant action, ranging from cell phone calls to pharmaceutical reps to scraping vomit off of priceless art books. The fact of the matter is, though, this script doesn't translate well from play to movie. It's simple to see that this story would be much more enjoyable to watch if it were on a stage as opposed to on a screen. Several of the over-the-top antics (Kate Winslet's vomiting fit at the top of the list) could be more appreciated if, perhaps, they were in a more theatrical setting.

However, that doesn't mean that it isn't funny. Because it is. It's tremendously funny, in a certain way. It isn't exactly laugh-out-loud hilarious, like, say, Zombieland. It's subtle humor; it's smart humor. It's a sort of commentary on the average American, represented in these four drastically simple stock characters that are bouncing around the Longstreets' apartment.

Of course, that doesn't mean these characters are without depth. Now, don't go into the film expecting to find out deep, personal details about these characters, or anything, but there is a point to these American case-studies, and that becomes evident through most of the acting. It's especially funny to watch Kate Winslet and Christoph Waltz, because despite the fact that they're the two non-American actors of the piece, they seem to have the less caricatured performances. When you look at Winslet and Waltz, you see a real middle-class (or maybe upper-class) American couple, slightly sleazy, struggling slightly to make their way in the corporate world.

On the other hand, Reilly and Foster are the complete opposite. Whereas the struggle within the first relationship is that one of the partners (Waltz) seems so detached, Foster's character is definitely way too attached to everything. This is evident several times, like when her irreplaceable art books get damaged, or in the way she simply refuses to believe anything other than that her son is an innocent victim. The difference between the two couples begins to get blurred throughout the film, though, as alliances are made and broken on grounds of marraige, beliefs, and even gender, until finally, everything just falls apart in a drunken mess. Literally.

Overall, the movie's definitely not for everybody. It's a nice, clever comedy for someone who really likes paying attention to lots of dialogue (like me) but for the average viewer, it could probably get real boring, real fast.

Final Rating: 7.9/10
Notable Performance: Jodie Foster as Penelope Longstreet