CARNAGE - Review

There's 18 year old liquor, un-smoked cigars, drowned cellphones, a dead hamster and a very impressive projectile vomit. This is a dark and twisted comedy and is by far the most fun I can remember having during a Roman Polanski film. It is just the right mix of awkward and funny and fascinating in an "I can't stop watching this train-wreck" kind of way. Polanski is not the first director you would think of for such a farcical comedy, however his two years under hours-arrest may have just given him the edge to capably and interestingly direct this one location film.

Based on the play God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza, this film is set within the confines of an apartment where we meet the Mr & Mrs Longstreet (John C. Reilly and Jodie Foster) and Mr & Mrs Cowan (Christoph Waltz and Kate Winslet). They have come together to have a civilised discussion about their sons, who we see get into an altercation during the opening credits. As the discussion continues, the film begins to descend into madness with each character breaking out of their restrained adult behaviour and fall just short of the monkey flinging his own poop.

At just 79 minutes this adaptation (completed by Polanski and Reza) gives each character just enough time to unfurl, without leaving the audience fidgeting and distracted as can sometimes happen with one location pieces. I'm not saying that it's believable that these characters would stay in that apartment for such an extended period of time, I for one would have left a damn sight quicker, but Polanski has done a good job of turning the Cowan's inability to leave into quite an amusing running joke.

I don't think a better team could have been found for this film than the four actors involved, and with such extensive careers behind them, I'm not surprised by their outstanding performances. Whilst I don't think there's many times you feel sorry for them, there's plenty of times you can relate and plenty of times you want to punch each of them in the face! And, I could tell that the rest of the audience felt the same, there was audible laughter and sighs of desperation and one guy even punched the armrest next to him out of what I can only imagine was frustration.

4 out of 5 for CARNAGE