Bad behavior abounds in well-cast 'Carnage'
In Hollywood terms, "Carnage" is relatively tame violence-wise. A pet hamster may be in peril, a bunch of tulips get mauled and a cellphone gets abused, but that's pretty much it. There's more actual carnage in "Puss in Boots."
But if you're into sheer domestic savagery, this is the film for you. Based on the 2009 Tony Award winning play "God of Carnage" by Yasmina Reza and directed by Roman Polanski, the film is a dark comedy that focuses on the collapse of good manners when two liberal, upper middle-class couples get together to discuss an altercation between their young sons.
Starring a first-rate cast of Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz and John C. Reilly, it may be uncomfortable stuff for yuppies to watch: A polite discussion of child rearing descends into racial slurs, drunken insults, the airing of dirty personal laundry and some barfing.
"There's no reason to lose our cool here," says Foster's character, an uptight altruistic woman, who, despite her nervous, thin smile, does precisely that.
To fans of the play, relax. Polanski and Reza, who share screenwriting credits, have added no flashbacks or car chases to what onstage has always been a four-character talk-fest - sometimes a scream-fest - that unspools in real time. In fact, the movie hews so closely to the play that it sometimes feels like a filmed play.
One major difference is the act that brings these two couples together: The opening shot is of an 11-year-old boy smacking another 11-year-old boy with a stick in a Brooklyn park, dislodging some teeth and prompting swelling. In the play, the assault is only alluded to.
Did we say "assault"? Whoops. That's precisely the discussion at hand when we first meet the Longstreets - Penelope (Foster) and Michael (Reilly) - and the Cowans - Alan (Waltz) and Nancy (Winslet). The Cowans' boy has hit the Longstreet's kid and both couples are meeting in the Longstreet's tasteful apartment to discuss the implications over cobbler and coffee.
Penelope Longstreet thinks it was indeed an "assault" that left her son "disfigured" and wants an apology - from the boy and his parents. The Cowans resent the implication: It was just horsing around, and their son is no thug. In fact, maybe the whole problem is that the Longstreet's boy is a "snitch." Whoops, again.
Before you know it, both sides are sliding into madness, unmasked as hardly civilized. Michael Longstreet is revealed to be a ball of resentment. His wife is exposed as a shrewish fraud. Alan Cowan, a crude, self-absorbed lawyer with a cellphone permanently attached to his ear, is nothing but a world-hating nihilist, and his mousy investment banker wife is rived with simmering hatred.
The four circle each other as a circumspect discussion of their parenting skills lead to a prickly discussion of their world views, all lubricated by Scotch. It's a play in which a seemingly innocuous line - like, "That's a funny line of work" or "Maybe your son is picking up on a lack of interest" - can produce lightning bolts of hatred.
They're acting like children - and that's the point, really. The four actors are tremendous at hiding their characters' real feelings and yet also trying to suppress the rush of blood to their heads. Waltz, in particular, has his annoying-arrogant phone skills down pat: Listening to him conduct a loud conversation as he shoves cobbler in his face while everyone silently and painfully waits for him to hang up will make you want to smack him with a two-by-four.
The film's cast teases out more of the story's humor than the Broadway production. Reilly channels his inner sad-sack to great effect. Foster and Winslet also prove eminently worthy, but really the material is the best thing here.
"I've behaved poorly," Penelope Longstreet says at one point.
She has. They all have. Quite wonderfully.
“Carnage”
★ ★ ★ ½
Starring: Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz, John C. Reilly
Directed by: Roman Polanski
Other: A Sony Pictures Classics release. Rated R for language. 80 minutes