CARNAGE Review

Release Date: December 16, 2011
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Roman Polanski
FilmPulse Score: 8/10

Based on the Italian play God of Carnage, this comedy centers around two couples as they meet to discuss and altercation that occurred between their sons.  Things begin polite enough, but quickly escalate into full on carnage (get it?).

The entire film takes place in a small New York apartment and is completely dialogue driven and thus requires some strong performances in order to succeed.  Fortunately, this holds true with this movie by having four very strong actors at the helm. Although no one performance overshadowed the others, John C. Reilly was absolutely hilarious as always.

Polanski proves yet again with this film that he is a master of human emotion and behavior. The moods of each of the characters change so often and sometimes erratically, the film becomes quite a ride.

Although being thoroughly entertained from the start of the film, I was concerned that the concept would dry and get stale before the film ended.  Thankfully, the movie clocks in at a brief 79 minutes so it wasn’t an issue. I also found myself being very intrigued to find out how far these people were going to let themselves fall into madness as each layer of the onion was peeled away. For being a simple film, there is a lot of substance to be taken away from it.

This may not be Polanski’s heaviest or best film, but it’s a hilarious trainwreck of awkwardness and I was loving every minute of it.