After an altercation between two young lads at The Brooklyn Bridge Park leads two one of them getting two of his teeth knocked out, the parents of both parties gather at the victim's apartment to hold an amicable discussion. Soon, as tensions begin to mount, civility is lost and the true nature of the parents begins to shine through. Roman Polanski's "Carnage" is a tightly wound, claustrophobic, and extremely funny adaptation of Yasmina Reza's God of Carnage. Aside from the dialogue free scenes involving the children which bookend the film, Polanski keeps the action entirely within the confines of the apartment and is able to generate the same kinds of caged feelings utilized in his classics such as "Rosemary's Baby" and "Repulsion". All four members of the cast are uniformly excellent, and by painting them as liberal (Jodie Foster, John C. Reilly) and conservative (Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz) Polanski, coscripter Reza, and the players get to have an even greater field day with the material. "Carnage" is a laugh-out-loud stage to screen adaptation from a master of tension that features four finely tuned and on point performances.
