This film is mildly recommended.
Move over, George and Martha! Good-bye, Nick and Honey! Not since the powerful screen version of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf , almost half a century ago, has a blistering film adaptation from a highly praised play about the disintegration of marriage made it to the big screen. Sadly, the sound and fury of the written word has fell silent to the relentless onslaught of superheroes, teen angst, vampires, and such.
Now there's a new couple or two bickering away into your hearts. It's Get the Guest Time once more! The class war has heated up in Roman Polanski's film treatment of the Tony award-winning play, God of Carnage. Co-written by its original playwright Yasmina Reza ( and the director ), and shortening its title to Carnage, the basic story is still left unscathed, but the core of the drama and the over-the-top hysterics are too forced and heavy-handed to support the action.
Meet Michael Longstreet and his wife, Penelope, an upper class couple with the middle class values to prove it. Their son was injured in a schoolyard scuffle by another boy and his parents, the upper upper crust Alan and Nancy Cowan have decided to formally apologize for their son's violent misdeed. Nothing goes as planned as conversation and blame escalates throughout the visit.
This film version is fairly faithful to its original source ( although the names of the female characters have oddly been changed to protect the guilty ). Polanski cleverly opens the film with a distant shot of the altercation between the two boys, but never reveals the cause or argument leading to the violent act. Most of the action, as in the play, takes place in the spacious New York apartment of the Longstreets with much of the fun being the slow dissolve of the superior-minded one percent's resolve as they gradually become less civil and more savage to each other by the day's end.
Yet, with all of Raza's witty remarks and ironic touches still on hand and the dialog zinging along, the film remains inert and not as entertaining as the play. Polanski's direction is solid, but the satirical edge has been blunted, sacrificing the comedy for the melodramatic flourishes with certain monologues either abridged or removed entirely in this new translation. ( Sorely missing is a wonderful ending speech by one of the characters that efficiently summarized the play's theme. ) There is a disparity, a lopsidedness in this film adaptation.
Perhaps, this is a vehicle for strong actors who are ideal for these demanding roles. The right casting is so essential to achieve Carnage's vitriolic sting. Polanski has wisely cast Kate Winslet and Christoph Waltz as the rich intruders. They bring their baggage with them in full force, even if it's the Louis Vuitton variety. But the director seriously miscasts Jodie Foster and John C. Reilly as the other warring couple, causing a delicate imbalance of the comic elements to suffer in the process. The credibility of each couple is so crucial for the film to work, and it just doesn't here. One never truly accepts Foster and Reilly as real spouses. Physically and emotionally, they are a mismatch, with Foster emanating classy strength and intellectual superiority and Reilly underplaying his role as more of a schlep rather than a controlling bullying type. This unevenness sets the wrong tone for the wordplay that follows.
Carnage is supposed to be a bumpy ride, a dark comedy about our human foibles. But this film version more often fumbles in its clumsy staging. This farce has become far too sobering, even with all the booze being shared. Pour me another. GRADE: B-
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