Jodie Foster

Carnage: a comic actors’ showpiece

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The sons of two Brooklyn couples have tangled in a schoolboy row.  The couples meet to discuss the matter, but the personality clashes between and within the couples derails an encounter of forced politeness into comic chaos.

Carnage belongs to its actors, and the couples are played by John C. Reilly and Jodie Foster and Christoph Walz and Kate Winslet.  All are very good and very funny.  The Austrian actor Walz (Inglorious Basterds) is especially good; his eyes betray his indifference to parenting and social niceties, but finally gleam when he is spurred to conflict.

Carnage is directed by Roman Polanski, based on the popular comic play God of Carnage by the French playwright Yasmina Reza.   God of Carnage won the 2009 Tony for Best Play.

Polanski (Rosemary’s Baby, Chinatown, The Pianist) is one of the greatest living directors, and knows enough to eschew anything showy here.  He just lets the actors show their chops, which is a very good thing.  Carnage is not one of the year’s best movies, but is a smart and funny comedy.

Some Carnage to Look Forward To

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Christop Walz in his Oscar winning role in Inglorious Basterds

Roman Polanski is currently in post-production with his newest film Carnage, based on the popular comic play God of Carnage by the French playwright Yasmina Reza.   God of Carnage won the 2009 Tony for Best Play.  It is the story of two couples whose sons have tangled in a schoolboy row; the couples meet to discuss the matter, but the discussion keeps veers off into bickering and rants.

In Polanski’s movie, the couples are played by John C. Reilly and Jodie Foster and Christoph Walz and Kate Winslet.  On Broadway, the likes of Jeff Daniels, Marcia Gay Harden, James Gandolfini, Hope Davis, Christine Lahti, Jimmy Smits, Dylan Baker and Lucy Liu cycled through the roles.  Daniels has played both male roles and Harden won a Tony for Best Actress.

Polanski (Rosemary’s Baby, Chinatown, The Pianist) is one of the greatest living directors.  With last year’s The Ghost Writer, Polanski proved that he’s still on the top of game.  So I’m looking forward to this one, too.

Marketing problem

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Let’s see if you can help a Hollywood studio with a marketing problem.  Suppose you have made a highbrow, smart, quirky film about a man who emerges from a disabling depression by communicating only through a beaver hand puppet.  And the film is titled The Beaver.

Now suppose that the guy’s wife is played by the eminently respectable, sympathetic and likable Jodie Foster, who also directs the film.  Everybody always likes Jodie Foster, right?

With me so far?  Wonder what the marketing problem is?  Well, the problem is that the audience must sympathize with the husband and root for him to learn how to express his feelings appropriately.  And that husband is played by Mel Gibson.

See the problem?

To make things worse for poor Jodie Foster, her film was already in the can and awaiting a Fall 2010 release when the tapes of Mel threatening his real life ex were splattered across the global media.

The Beaver reportedly had a $19 million budget and finished shooting in November 2009.  The release date is now the vague “2011”.  But, never fear, the trailer is here!