Carol (Movie Review)

CAROL
Nominated for 5 Golden Globe Awards = Best Motion Picture - Drama, Best Actresses (Cate Blanchett & Rooney Mara), Best Director (Todd Haynes), Best Original Score (Carter Burwell)
Nominated for 6 Academy Awards = Best Actress (Cate Blanchett), Best Supporting Actress (Rooney Mara), Best Adapted Screenplay (Phylis Nagy), Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Original Score (Carter Burwell)
Nominated for 2 SAG Awards = Best Actress (Cate Blanchett), Best Supporting Actress (Rooney Mara)

Release Dates:     November 20, 2015 (limited)
                             January 15, 2016 (wide)
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Kyle Chandler, Sarah Paulson, Jake Lacy
Genre: Drama
Rated: R (for a scene of sexuality/nudity and brief language)
Running time: 118 minutes

Todd Haynes’ latest screen effort evokes that of a prior film in which he directed: 2003’s “Far From Heaven”, in which similar themes of homosexuality and social structures are addressed. His latest effort “Carol”, has reversed gender roles.  The housewife in this newest version is Carol Aird (Cate Blanchett), who is divorced from her husband Harge (Kyle Chandler) and is hinted at as being involved in a custody battle over their daughter Rindy. While shopping for a Christmas present at a Manhattan department store, she strikes up a friendship with shopgirl Therese Believe (Rooney Mara). It starts out as friendship at first, the two women provide each other comfort in their loneliness and soon a mutual attraction develops. However, reality comes crashing back down as Harge threatens Carol with a suit that grants him full custody of Rindy.
The move itself is based off a 1952 novel by Patricia Highsmith, a suspense writer who initially published the novel under a pseudonym “Carol Morgan” due to the story’s underlying themes. To write a lesbian story in the 1950s was virtually unheard of, and yet screenwriter Phylis Nagy and director Haynes craft a virtual masterpiece that basically dissects the basic structure of society, how people were supposed to act and behave. Even the husband knew of Carol's homosexuality as she had a previous relationship with Abby (Sarah Paulson). Abby acts as a mediator; she knows what is at stake and becomes Carol’s confidante as she embarks on a new relationship, but at the same time worries about what Carol's future.
Both leads do a perfectly good job at their roles, and both Haynes and screenwriter Nagy know how to flush out their female characters making them both feel accurate and authentic in their portrayal. Even the supporting players are great here. Carter Burwell’s musical score seems to evoke that of 40s and 50s orchestral melodramatic pieces, but it’s also elegant in its simplistic overtones as to not become overly dramatic. “Carol” proves to be a somber tale — yet one that does welcome a hint of ambiguity that is hope for these characters and the world that Haynes envisions. 



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