When two eleven year old boys get into a confrontation in the local playground that results in one boy hitting the other in the mouth with a stick, Michael and Penelope Longstreet (John C. Reilly and Jodie Foster), the parents of the boy who was struck, invite Alan and Nancy Cowan (Christoph Waltz and Kate Winslet) to their Brooklyn apartment, the parents of the "bully", to deal with the incident in a civilized manner. Unfortunately things don't go quite as planned...

Carnage is directed by Roman Polanski from a screenplay he co-wrote with Yasmina Reza. It's based on Reza's original stage play, God of Carnage. The entire movie, apart from the very first and last scenes (which are shot at the park where the children interact) and a few scenes in the apartment's hallway, is filmed in the apartment of the Longstreets. The Longstreets (played by Jodie Foster and John C. Reilly) are the parents of a boy who has had two of his teeth knocked out in a playground altercation by the son of the other parents; the Cowans (Kate Winslet and Christoph Waltz).

The two families have come together in a bid to talk about the incident in a calm and cooperative manner, rather than paying for solicitors to get involved. But things slowly start to fall apart and hidden cracks in both families marriage come to the fore as everyone's true feelings on the matter slowly rise to the surface.

At it's heart, this is a light farce, which holds a mirror up to the audience. You're guaranteed to recognise character traits of yourself, your partner or at the very least your friends in this film.

The slow build works well, but it's not quite slow enough for it to not appear a little forced. The catalyst for the arguments comes from Winslet's character throwing up in the living room. And then everything descends into madness.

Extras include Interviews with Jodie Foster (10 min, 55 sec); Kate Winslet (8 min, 38 sec); Christoph Waltz (4 min, 4 sec); and John C. Reilly (9 min, 47 sec); and Trailer (2 min). It was interesting to learn that the actors memorised the script in rehearsals and then shot the film each day like a play.

As entertaining as this is, it's more painful to watch than it is amusing. While it is a comedy, it's a rather disturbing one - disturbing in just how realistic the characters are painted.

7

Darren Rea