'Carnage'

'Carnage' (R) (2 STARS)

Writers: Roman Polanski and Yasmina Reza based on play "God of Carnage"
Director: Roman Polanski
Starring: Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, John C. Reilly, Christoph Waltz

There is a feeling among critics that movies based on stage plays fail most of the time because they are always too stagy. Some movies don't open up the story enough to leave it's stage confines. I have not seen the play "God of Carnage" but I have heard that it is faithful to the stage play and that the only scenes that is independent is it's opening and closing shot. The film deals with two couples of parents who meet after one of their kids had struck the other kid in the face with a stick during a fight. They meet in one of their apartments and the movie doesn't leave that location.

There is nothing wrong with a movie that will stay in one place and nothing wrong with a screen adaptaion of a stage play being stagy. As long as the acting is great, the story compelling and the dialogue intriguing all is good. One of my favorite movies is the screen adaptation of "Deathtrap" from 1982 which was all set in a writer's house. I have seen "Deathtrap" with Michael Caine and Christopher Reeve over 50 times and I can recite all the dialogue. So a confined adaptation can be rewarding because that movie had great dialogue, twists and an expert use of that film's location.

"Carnage" has great acting and some priceless one liners but the movie never really gets going until it is too late. The last half hour really gets nasty and great but suddenly it is over and I was disaapointed. This movie has such a great cast and such a great premise I felt cheated when the movie abruptly ends. The movie's characters to me all seemed selfish, stuck up and boring people. There is nothing wrong with that and the movie wants to get nasty and wants to show up these characters and how mean and selfish they are. I do get what this movie is trying to do to us and why the story is set in one claustrophobic location. The movie is trying to make us uncomfortable as we try to laugh at what is unfolding but I didn't laugh as much as I wanted to.

All four actors are very good with Jodie Foster and John C. Reilly as the parents of the victim and Kate Winslet and Christoph Waltz as the parents of the kid who struck the other child. To me John C. Reilly and Christoph Waltz come off the best. Foster and Winslet yell too much and a lot of movie goers will be put off by what seems like stage type acting. That is one of the reasons the movie felt stiff and fake to me and when you see a movie you don't want to feel like you are watching a play. There are some really good verbal attacks and a great running joke about the Christoph Waltz character always using his cell phone and interrupting conversations. There is also a lame running joke that deals with the Winslet character vomiting.

There are scattered, great insults and one liners but a lot of the dialogue to me was weak. I was bored in the first half but I started to like the second half but when I got comfortable the movie was over. This is a movie that would be better to wait for on DVD but I also fear a lot of people will hate this movie. These are not characters people will like and I felt after awhile they were beginning to annoy me even though I love all the actors. They are all really good but I wanted more intensity, more nastiness and I just wanted plain more.

P.S. For those who love priceless acting, twists and turns, nastiness, scares, chills, grand guigonol, laughs and intensity from a movie adaptation of a stage play netflix 1982's "Deathtrap" with Christopher Reeve, Michael Caine and Dyan Cannon. It is one of the best and most fun times I have ever had in a movie and a better adaptaion than "Carnage".