The 49th New York Film Festival starts off Friday night with the premiere of the North American film ‘Carnage’. The latest movie was made from a controversial director Roman Polanski which tells the story about two sets of parents played out by Kate Winslet and Christopher Waltz plus Jodie Foster and John C. Reilly. They spend time discussing about an incident that happened between their own kids. It is based on a play that is entitled ‘God of Carnage’ written by Yasmina Reza.
If you have always loved Christopher Waltz for his performance in ‘Inglourious Basterds’, then you would surely love him still. He plays the role of Alan, a serious businessman who has a straight tone, a cold gaze and a lot of elitism. He is able to stay above the fray all the time and he is able to steal every scene that he is in. He could be considered the best part of ‘Carnage’ since he eats a lot of scenery for himself like one hungry wolf.
Kate Winslet plays the role of Nancy Cowan who is a two-faced woman who only starts becoming humorous each time the scotch is pulled out of the cabinet. From a performance that started well-mannered ends up manic as her role cries out, laughs, yells and even vomits twice. Her recent win as Best Actress simply proves the point that she is truly one good actress among the rest.
John C. Reilly may be familiar with comedy movies but the film seems to be a good fit for him. Maybe because it has dark side of comedy to it. He plays the role of Michael Longstreet who is such a slow burner. The plot though turns the actor far that by the end of the movie, he ends up like a drowning victim who is in search of someone in the cast to save him.
Then of course there’s the classic Jodie Foster who we do not get to see acting often. In fact, you can notice that she does about one movie per year only since 2005. Even if many might be turned off with her performance in this film, she still went for it taking her character Penelope Longstreet from what you can consider as hysterical to a lot more hysterical! It may not always work but you would agree that she holds a very interesting performance still.
‘Carnage’ will open on December 16 for a limited release only.