![]() No history of tenderness or tension clings to the couples. Reza’s “Art” this play consists of a superficially provocative idea slapped onto an almost-probable situation and whipped into a froth of hyper-articulate nonsense. This may seem like nitpicking, but “Carnage” is partly about the narcissism of small differences - the nuances of rank, taste and behavior that take on disproportionate importance in close quarters - and fudged or sloppy details expose a larger weakness of design. (In France an invitation to replace the formal vous with the familiar tu might well be part of an encounter like this one, but this is not France.) And someone with Penelope Longstreet’s political views and multicultural concerns would be most unlikely to proclaim herself, without irony, a defender of “Western values.” (Courtney? What is this, Beverly Hills? Reality television? Come on!) The elder Cowans and Longstreets would be on a first-name basis from the start so that the “call me Penelope,” “call me Alan” moment would never occur. And while these people might well be the parents of a Zachary and an Ethan, the sister of a Zachary would much more plausibly be a Sophie or an Emma than a Courtney. The smug do-gooder with her fancy recipes and her African art. The smug big shot with his suit and his cellphone. But the characters never quite rise above New Yorker-cartoon-style caricature. Waltz’s cynical corporate lawyer, are full of vigor and venom. Foster is frighteningly intense, and her skirmishes with Alan Cowan, Mr. As Penelope Longstreet, a high-strung, high-minded avatar of liberal hypocrisy, Ms. All of the actors conduct themselves skillfully - hitting their marks and tearing through the sometimes awkward idioms of a translated script - without being entirely convincing. Polanski’s nimble camera, anticipates violence and perhaps hopes for it to erupt.Īnd there is some satisfaction in seeing this curious form of blood sport performed by professionals. The spectator, gliding and feinting around the edges of the room with Mr. These nice, complacent people turn angry, competitive, contemptuous and stupid. As the Cowans and the Longstreets go through the motions of mature, reasonable conflict resolution, that old primal force asserts itself in various forms. The glib alluring notion that spins through 80 minutes of contentious dialogue is that beneath the surface of civilized behavior lurks an unquenchable animal impulse, a principle of aggression we labor in vain to suppress. Reza’s play when it came to Broadway in 2009 by way of Paris. One name for which might be the God of Carnage, the title of Ms. On several occasions their visitors, the Cowans (Christoph Waltz and Kate Winslet), make ready to leave, getting as far as the elevators before being drawn back into the Longstreets’ living room, as if compelled by a sorcerer’s curse or an unseen, chthonic force. Reilly), whose child Zachary was injured, are the hosts. The Longstreets (Jodie Foster and John C. They are two married couples, the parents of those schoolboys, who are meeting to figure out what to do about the unfortunate incident involving their sons. The four human characters in the play seem, in contrast, unable to escape. There has been a playground altercation between two young boys, and a hamster has been removed from a comfortable high-rise apartment and abandoned to its fate on the streets of Brooklyn.Īfter spending some time in that apartment - a lovely piece of real estate, by the way, with million-dollar views and, most likely, an even higher appraised value - you might conclude that the poor animal has actually been liberated. A few slightly more dramatic events have already taken place before the action starts. ![]() Not a lot happens, in the usual sense of movie action, in “Carnage,” Roman Polanski’s swift and spry adaptation of Yasmina Reza’s play: voices are raised whiskey is drunk leftover fruit cobbler is consumed and (spoiler alert!) vomited.
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