Carnage

  Roman Polanski's latest feature follows contrastingly from The Ghost - the Robert Harris political thriller - and shows that the director can really take his hand to anything. The concept is pure genius. Based on the play God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza, we see two pairs of parents holding a meeting to discuss a fight which their sons have had, however, throughout the course of an afternoon, the squabbling and child-like behaviour eclipses the reasons the meeting is about. The couples couldn't be more opposite, with Winslet and Waltz playing city professionals the Cowans, and Foster and Reilly playing a liberal writer and pots and pans salesman, the Longstreets. Throughout it's 80 minute running time (my only criticism would be that it's a tad too short - it's a pleasure watching them so 100 minutes would have quenched better), the situation descends into a hilarious depth of carnage, as allegiances flip, secrets come out, true colours shine and insecurities are confronted. The whole film rests on gthe four brilliant leading comedy performances. I wouldn't really like to go into much detail , as the moments of surprise are so well constructed and enjoyable, but there are a couple of stand-out moments, and John C. Reilly's flipout is genius. It's the kind of film you immediately want to see again.