Carnage

What Polanski gains with Waltz's smirk or Winslet's unobservable expression, is destroyed by the overburned premise that could not work fully outside the theater. All the coming out of doors and calling the elevator is too stupidly unnecessary in the first half, when it is absolutely clear that it will lead to nothing and everything returns to the two rooms with incomprehensibly violent tricks. Without the convulsive lacing of the plot in one place, the sad irony with directly corrosive satire at its heart would work much better, like this the massacre only hints at. (02/15/2012)

In life, we put on various masks and suppress our emotions and instincts in order to avoid confrontation with our surroundings and not jeopardize our interests and social status. Only in exceptional cases do we take off the masks and reveal our inner selves. In Carnage, this happened to four participants of a meeting that was supposed to serve as a reconciliation. However, vanity, anger, and alcohol led to the abandonment of the civilizational shell and exposed what we usually hide from our surroundings. Carnage is a black comedy about what happens to people when they lose control and become dangerously honest. It would probably be more suitable for theater stages, where it ultimately belongs, but Roman Polanski managed to gather four top actors in a small space, and thus the theater layout doesn't really matter. I had a great time, and as I think about it, it's actually a pity to originally give it 4 stars, so I'm adding a fifth one. Especially considering the two ladies who thoroughly enjoyed playing their hysterical and poser characters. Overall impression: 90%. (10/31/2016)

It’s straightforward, simple conversational theater translated to the screen. And yet excellent. A good text and four confident actors are all you need. The movie theater roared with laughter throughout the screening, because where else will we all see ourselves other than in stereotypes of arguments and gender wars? Nothing about it is perfect, nothing is convincing and it’s full of acting mannerisms, but it is really nice. Where else can one you Kate Winslet puking all over the screen? That’s definitely included. It's just too bad that Julie Adams from Creature from the Black Lagoon has only a tiny cameo here. (03/21/2012)

Good dialogues are a good foundation of a high-quality dialogue-based movie. The premise itself takes the lead role here – it’s incredibly original – and the actors are doing such a great job it seems they loved the premise as well. My personal favorite was Christopher Waltz and his incredibly arrogant lawyer. Nevertheless, I believe that different viewers will fall for different characters. This movie literally lives and dies with the actors and I believe that a stage play with good actors could yield the same result. (11/24/2015)

Apparently, it doesn't take much to make a good and interesting film. And it doesn't need to burn either a budget or time. One apartment, four people, and well-written dialogue, where you know where it’s going but you still enjoy it. I was expecting a slightly different ending, God knows why, but I'm certainly not complaining. Pretty good, a strong 3.5 stars. (12/07/2020)