It's a very American phenomenon - that is to adapt a film from an award-winning hit play. When done properly, there are great examples that can go down into the pantheon of classic movies: Glengarry Glen Ross, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Crucible, or Death of a Salesman.
In cinemas now is the new film from Roman Polanski, an all-star adaptation (oh, and these adaptations always bag a great ensemble cast) of Yasmina Reza's God of Carnage, titled, simply, Carnage.
The plot is, seemingly, less violent than the name suggests. Kate Winslet and Christophe Waltz are parents to a young boy who visit Jodie Foster and John C. Reilly, parents to the young boy's school mate. The boys have been in a small fight and the parents come together to end any kind of remaining ill-will. As the afternoon stretches into evening, and a bottle of scotch gets opened, niceties and civilities get thrown out of the window and, as the audience, we are suddenly caught in the midst of familial warfare.
It's a simple premise, filmed almost entirely in one apartment. None of the actors are strangers to the stage and Polanski (who has proven himself to be one of the great and most consistent filmmakers in recent years) handles the escalating tension, and resultant explosions, with aplomb. This is funny, scary and nothing but downright entertaining.
Carnage is in cinemas now.
