Movie Review—Carnage

Sometimes, movies are fun because they have cool special effects. Other times, they're fun because of a fun unexpected plot twist. And then there are movies like "Carnage," which are fun purely and solely because of the actors and actresses involved.

This is by no means a big movie—it's not even 90 minutes long and, with the exception of 2 shots outside (one during the opening credits and one during the closing credits), the entire movie takes place in a single apartment. There's plenty of cuts, but the movie proceeds in real time.

The plot is pretty simple. Two kids got in a fight in the park. One kid may or may not call the other kid a name, they start pushing each other, then the other kid wheels around and hits the first kid in the face with a stick. It's all shot in a long shot, and then we cut to the apartment, where the parents of the two children have gotten together to talk about the incident and agree on a statement about what happened. One thing leads to another, and in a series of events involving fruit cobbler, tulips, a pesky cell phone, some art books, an upset stomach, some really good scotch, and a possibly murdered hamster... things go from relatively awkward and tense to almost unbearably awkward and tense. It's a quietly hilarious movie about two couples who don't really like each other learning just how much they don't like each other or, indeed, their own spouses.

Oh... and by the way... the couples? Kate Winslet and Christoph Waltz VS John C. Reilly and Jodie Foster.

Roman Polanski's recipe for mayhem.

I could have watched these four talk for another ten hours easy.

Carnage...

• ... made me want to make sure my favorite books are not out on the coffee table when I have guests over.
• ... has a much better French movie poster than the American one.
• ... made me worry about that poor hamster.
• ... taught me the secret about making apple and pear cobbler.
• ... also taught me that it's important to keep a bucket and a bottle of cologne handy for accidents.

Grade: A–