Carnage

Carnage was directed by Roman Polanski.  Yes, the cowardly rapist who fled the United States in 1977, and whose best interest it is to not come back.  With that being said, it does not take away from the fact that he is an incredibly talented filmmaker.  Alright, it takes away a little, but I'm trying to separate the man from his work.  Carnage is based off of a play, which I have not seen, and contains only four primary characters.  They are portrayed by Christoph Waltz, Kate Winslet, Jodie Foster, and John C. Reilly.  

The film's plot is incredibly simple and concise, having a run time of less than 80 minutes.  Also, the entire film takes place in a single apartment, except for about a minute at the beginning and end where there is shot of a park in Brooklyn, New York.  Alan and Nancy Cowan's (Waltz and Winslet) son hit's Michael and Penelope Longstreet's (Reilly and Foster) son with a stick, causing the loss of a couple teeth and some nerve damage.  The two couple come together to have a civilized, mature discussion about what happened with the two sons, one of which in a way verbally initiated the fight.  The meeting eventually goes horribly wrong and turns into a heated argument between the four people, where parenting styles, marriage quality, and general outlook on life is all put into question.

All four of these people are incredibly talented.  I am not a huge fan of any one of them, but I cannot deny that they are gifted at their line of work and they all meshed perfectly together.  The success of this film rested primarily on the four actors chosen to dominant the duration of the movie.  Each is also incredibly funny.  This can be seen with Winlet's character vomiting on the Longstreet's coffee table and later getting drunk on scotch and just letting her mouth run wild.  Foster's character is also hilarious as she gets more and more emotional and is practically balling her eyes out by the end of the film.  Waltz has a complete disinterest in the whole situation it seems and is glued to his Blackberry, but to the dismay of his wife and the Longstreet's.  Having only seen him in Inglourious Basterds I didn't realize how hilarious he was and what great comic timing he has.  Finally, Reilly starts out as sort of a weak character, but eventually becomes verbal, opinionated, and unbelievably amusing.  I realize I mostly wrecked the movie for you, but I feel like this isn't a mainstream type of movie anyway, so most people may not even find it enjoyable.  

Also, if you are expecting a real ending, then by all means see a different movie.  Much is discussed, but nothing is settled, and I was perfectly fine with that.  After all this movie was a coproduction of about 82 European countries, and they frown upon nicely resolved endings.  

I didn't burst out laughing during the the film, like the woman in front of my did practically the whole time.  I smiled often, since the dialogue was so funny, not in an obvious or obnoxious way.  Also, if you like some or all of the actors, then you will be entertained by their effortlessly interaction and chemistry.

3 out of 4 stars

-Joseph Sbrilli