It was Hysterical – It was Historical!
October 27, 2011 by pbenjay
Roman Polanski
Two nights, two movies back to back !
It was HYSTERICAL – CARNAGE (spoiler alert)
With the title CARNAGE, you don’t exactly expect to howl throughout the movie. However, that’s what happened as the audience roared, laughed, snickered and giggled all the way through to the credits. Roman Polanski‘s latest film is a not- quite-dark adaptation of a darkly humorous play. Actually, instead of the black farce is was meant to be, I found it to be more light gray.
Fifteen minutes into the movie, I thought I was watching a comedic version of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolfe? . I’m not sure it was meant to be quite that funny but it was. I wondered if it was hysterical because the characters were more like caricatures? Maybe, but for that matter, Martha and George caricatures. No one laughed out loud watching Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton turn a social evening into a knock-down, drag-out verbal battle waged throughout the night.
Shot in the style of a Woody Allen film, four people are figuratively locked in the Brooklyn living room of Penelope (Jodie Foster) and Michael (John C. Reilly) Longstreet, the parents of Ethan. Presumably an amiable meeting is to take place between Nancy and Alan, the parents of Zachary who attacked Ethan and disfigured him by knocking out some teeth. These graphic descriptive accusations are sharp retorts from the horrified Penelope. She is just so shocked by the parenting skills or lack thereof of Nancy (Kate Winslet) and Alan (Christoph Waltz). Nancy and Alan just want to avoid a lawsuit and get the hell out of there! NOT an easy task ! Although they make it out the door a couple of times and even get as far as the elevator, they cannot leave. They are repeatedly pulled back into the web of guilt woven relentlessly by Penelope.
Jodie Foster was well-cast as the uptight, self-righteous, know-it-all Bohemian mother hen. She is so brittle, you’re sure she will crack and crumble the next time she tightly wraps her arms around herself. She was believable as Penelope up to a point. However, by the end of the movie, Jodie is shrieking like a banshee with her face contorted like an appopletic lunatic. I blame Mr. Polanski for this over-the-top performance. A shame, because prior to this melt-down, Penelope and her shoulds were amusing.
Kate Wynslet delivered a superb performance as the resigned wife of a rude, self-involved attorney a la Betty Draper (Mad Men), right up to the blonde French twist hair-do. The audience roared when the prim and properly groomed Nancy tosses her cookies onto the coffee table and all over Penny’s precious Oskar Kokoschka book – OH the horror of it all!!
The films best lines were all Alan’s, with his omnipresent cell phone. After the 15th annoying ring, I lost count. A rude, crude misogynist, bored with his wife, his life and certainly this ridiculous charade of meeting. The cobbler doesn’t do much to assuage his ennui, but the single malt scotch is right on.
Michael morphs from Mr. Nice Guy into a blustering insensitive boor who openly admits to freeing or murdering (depends on who’s speaking) his daughter’s hamster. I felt the transition was not clear or obvious, again this is the work of the director.
And the hamster lived happily ever after!
I was going to comment on It was Historical – A Dangerous Method but this post is already long and it’s after midnight, so check back in a day or two!
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Bill Ding and his band of clowns are the security patrol for this blog site. He is a favorite toy from the 50*s. By the way sometimes a blog is just an ego-maniacal stream of conscience.
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It was Hysterical – It was Historical!
October 27, 2011 by pbenjay
Roman Polanski
Two nights, two movies back to back !
It was HYSTERICAL – CARNAGE (spoiler alert)
With the title CARNAGE, you don’t exactly expect to howl throughout the movie. However, that’s what happened as the audience roared, laughed, snickered and giggled all the way through to the credits. Roman Polanski‘s latest film is a not- quite-dark adaptation of a darkly humorous play. Actually, instead of the black farce is was meant to be, I found it to be more light gray.
Fifteen minutes into the movie, I thought I was watching a comedic version of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolfe? . I’m not sure it was meant to be quite that funny but it was. I wondered if it was hysterical because the characters were more like caricatures? Maybe, but for that matter, Martha and George caricatures. No one laughed out loud watching Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton turn a social evening into a knock-down, drag-out verbal battle waged throughout the night.
Shot in the style of a Woody Allen film, four people are figuratively locked in the Brooklyn living room of Penelope (Jodie Foster) and Michael (John C. Reilly) Longstreet, the parents of Ethan. Presumably an amiable meeting is to take place between Nancy and Alan, the parents of Zachary who attacked Ethan and disfigured him by knocking out some teeth. These graphic descriptive accusations are sharp retorts from the horrified Penelope. She is just so shocked by the parenting skills or lack thereof of Nancy (Kate Winslet) and Alan (Christoph Waltz). Nancy and Alan just want to avoid a lawsuit and get the hell out of there! NOT an easy task ! Although they make it out the door a couple of times and even get as far as the elevator, they cannot leave. They are repeatedly pulled back into the web of guilt woven relentlessly by Penelope.
Jodie Foster was well-cast as the uptight, self-righteous, know-it-all Bohemian mother hen. She is so brittle, you’re sure she will crack and crumble the next time she tightly wraps her arms around herself. She was believable as Penelope up to a point. However, by the end of the movie, Jodie is shrieking like a banshee with her face contorted like an appopletic lunatic. I blame Mr. Polanski for this over-the-top performance. A shame, because prior to this melt-down, Penelope and her shoulds were amusing.
Kate Wynslet delivered a superb performance as the resigned wife of a rude, self-involved attorney a la Betty Draper (Mad Men), right up to the blonde French twist hair-do. The audience roared when the prim and properly groomed Nancy tosses her cookies onto the coffee table and all over Penny’s precious Oskar Kokoschka book – OH the horror of it all!!
The films best lines were all Alan’s, with his omnipresent cell phone. After the 15th annoying ring, I lost count. A rude, crude misogynist, bored with his wife, his life and certainly this ridiculous charade of meeting. The cobbler doesn’t do much to assuage his ennui, but the single malt scotch is right on.
Michael morphs from Mr. Nice Guy into a blustering insensitive boor who openly admits to freeing or murdering (depends on who’s speaking) his daughter’s hamster. I felt the transition was not clear or obvious, again this is the work of the director.
And the hamster lived happily ever after!
I was going to comment on It was Historical – A Dangerous Method but this post is already long and it’s after midnight, so check back in a day or two!
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Posted in From My Point of View - Personal commentary on Movies and Books | Tagged Christoph Waltz, Jodie Foster, John C Reilly, Kate Winslet, Oskar Kokoschka, Roman Polanski, Woody Allen | Leave a Comment
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