Carnage - famous people in a flat

Watched Roman Polanski's middle class rage-romp Carnage the other week before I went on holiday.  Just after I started watching the film my housemate Andy came in, saw the cast and quickly joined in after getting a synopsis of the first 5 minutes from me.  I think that this nicely sums up the reaction that I had to this film when I first saw it advertised.  I can't really imagine a situation in which a film starring Kate Winslet, Jodie Foster, John C Reilly and Christoph Waltz would be bad, or even a bit indifferent.  Let's see shall we...

The premise of Carnage is that there are 4 people stuck in a flat, they all want out of it for a variety of reasons but somehow are unable to escape.  These 2 couples are brought together because the son of Kate Winslet and Christoph Waltz has hit the son of John C Reilly and Jodie Foster with a stick - and they come together to work out some sort of reparation between them.  We see these boys very briefly in a long shot at the start and end of the film, but apart from that the film focuses entirely on the two middle class couples arguing their way around what has happened.

Because of the premise, this is a film that is naturally quite stagey.  Christoph Waltz is the mostly uncaring doctor who spends more time on his mobile phone than looking after patients, Kate Winslet is his highly strung wife who barely hides her contempt for his 'dedication' to his profession.  Jodie Foster is the wannabe liberal who hates the fact she lives in a city with any Republicans, John C Reilly her alcohol & cigar-loving husband who keeps his true opinions to himself - mostly.  Into this melting pot of modern angst is poured monetary tensions, some off-food, plenty of booze, a bit of vomit and a hell of a lot of people finally telling some home truths.  It's entertaining stuff on the surface, but when you think about what really happens over the course of 75 minutes and the cast at the disposal of the director, it's all comes out looking a bit empty.

By the end I was sort of engaged by it, but at the same time a little bit thinking "that's it?".  It makes sense that the script for the film derives from a play that was a minor hit on Broadway, given that it's all set in one place.  By all means give this film a go because of the stellar cast - the performances are very good after all; but try not to be too upset if you end up wondering why you bothered.