Writer(s): Lawrence D. Cohen, based on the novel by Stephen King
Starring: Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, Amy Irving, and William Katt
For some reason I've never really been keen on seeing Carrie. Part of it no doubt has to do with the fact that I have a problem with most films that have been relegated to the status of “classic”, because I find most of them undeserving of the title; it's like they are passed down from generation-to-generation, much like a family heirloom, with no one daring to question their appeal, or to critique them with an open mind. In my mind, for a film to truly be a classic, it must stand up to the times; such a film must age with grace, and stay relevant decades after its release.
I finally caved in, though, because I was going through a Brian De Palma phase, and what examination of the director would be complete without including Carrie? It's arguably the film that put him on the map, at least for good, and is an adaptation of a Stephen King novel that even the legendary author himself approves of (to put this comment in perspective, and to buck popular opinion, he has been a vocal opponent The Shining ever since it was released); to ignore this would be to ignore perhaps the biggest reason for his success.
Sure enough, I am baffled as to the following that it still has today. It's a good film, don't get me wrong, but it's too patchy and uneven to be considered a great one; the first feeling that I had after the viewing was over was just how pointless the entire thing felt. It's basically a high school melodrama for three-quarters of its length, with batshit religious saga filling up most of the rest; then, there's the ending. The ending that gets all of the attention, and rightfully so, because it's the only point in the film that anything actually happens. The rest just feels like a big lead-up to that climactic scene, chugging along at just the right pace to keep you from falling asleep, just so it can finally unleash Carrie's unbridled fury.
Carrie White is played by Sissy Spacek, in the role that helped to launch her career; just that she manages to keep a straight-face in scenes involving her mother should have been enough to earn an Academy Award nomination. She would be your typical high school teenager were it not for her religiously-obsessed mother, who refuses to at least warn her of things that pubescent girls go through...like getting their periods, for example. Imagine the terror Carrie faces when, in the shower after gym class, she starts bleeding from her crotch. And then just imagine the bemusement the other girls in the class must feel, when she emerges from the shower, in a fit of hysteria, believing that something is wrong with her and that she is dying. Already the awkward, bullied social outcast, this outburst certainly doesn't help matters any, and she finds herself to be the butt of jokes even more frequently.
She does have some allies, most notably in gym teacher Miss Collins (Betty Buckley), who feels sorry for her and takes her under her wing. She gives Carrie an entire week off from gym, and spends that time punishing the girls of the class with strenuous exercises. Most of the class slowly starts to understand the error of their ways (or at least pretend to, for the sake of getting off easier), but not Chris (Nancy Allen), a cocky little wench who has always hated Carrie for no reasons specified, and vows to make Carrie's life a living hell. As if it isn't already.
Sue (Amy Irving), a popular girl and one of the students in Miss Collin's class, has a change of heart, and decides to have her popular boyfriend Tommy (William Katt) take Carrie to the prom. While this can be seen as a genuine act of kindness—and that is how it's meant—it's also preposterous and, in a way, even kind of evil. So this popular guy is going to take Carrie out for a good time, be nice to her, shower her with attention, after which she'll inevitably have feelings for him since she's so sheltered and has no other male contacts, and then he'll just dump her and go back to Sue like nothing happened? Sounds like just the thing she needs.
Carrie reluctantly accepts Tommy's invitation—she's been bullied long enough to know that it's probably just a setup to a cruel joke, but her mother's coming toward the door, and Carrie doesn't want her mother to even see a boy anywhere near the house. You see, her mother, known as Margaret, has some pretty extreme religious leanings and tends to treat her only daughter as a prisoner, moreso than a daughter. She also believes any form of sex is a sin, even during marriage...we're talking a class-A nutcase right here.
At first, her mother refuses to let her go to the prom. Carrie expected this, and cements her opinion by using her telekinetic powers to slam all of the windows in the house shut. This mainly just convinces her mother that she's a witch, but also gets her to back off enough to let her go, finally realizing that her influence can only go so far. Before we know it, it's the night of the prom...
Margaret's religious ramblings do tend to border on the comical, so much so that even the actress that portrayed her, Piper Laurie, thought that she was too over-the-top fanatical to be taken seriously. These scenes, while not laugh-out-loud funny, sometimes succeed in diluting the mother-daughter relationship: we are supposed to feel pity for the way Carrie is constantly bullied, but hearing Margaret regale Carrie with the story of the night of her conception is more awkward than anything else, and kind of helps to undermine some of the terror we are supposed to feel from her.
As I alluded to earlier, the pacing is somewhat an issue, with large fragments of the movie focusing on people other than Carrie, to the point that I would sometimes forget that she was even the focal point. I did appreciate that her telepathic powers are kept to a bare minimum, as we only get a few glimpses of them leading up to the finale. Most of them used in just an innocuous kind of way (flipping over an ashtray, or breaking a mirror, for examples), so we really don't understand the true extent that she is capable of until she can no longer hold it in, which is a nice little touch.
But take out the telekinesis angle and you're left with a relatively uneventful, slow-moving coming-of-age tale, though one that's thankfully helped along by great performances and earnest direction by De Palma. The strength of its reputation no doubt hinges on that final sequence, and as brilliantly-executed as it is, it just isn't quite enough to absolve the remainder of the film completely of its sins.
RATING: 6.5/10
TRAILER
No comments:
Post a Comment