It begins and ends in blood. The new remake of "Carrie" may not be the ground breaker the 1976 original was, and Portia Doubleday (Chris Hargensen) and Gabriella Wilde (Sue Snell) do not have the acting chops to pull off their roles convincingly, (especially Gabriella) like their famed predecessors, Nancy Allen and Amy Irving. And there are no good supporting players lurking about, like P.J. Soles as Norma, or Betty Buckley, as gym teacher Miss Collins, but I am here to tell you, darlings, that Julianne Moore, by far, is the greatest of all actresses I have seen play nutso mother Margaret White!!!!!!!!!!!
With nothing going for it but originality, Piper Laurie camped it up as Margaret, back in 1976, in a manner suggesting to me she was channeling Aimee Semple McPherson, or Colleen Dewhurst, as Avenging Angel, in "The Nun's Story." Now, even with no makeup and drab dressing, Julianne cannot completely play down that she is...Julianne....breathtaking and stunning, though, understandably, not quite so much as on one of those L'Oreal commercials!!!!!!!!!!!!! Her Margaret is the sickest rendering of the role I have ever seen, because it has complete credibility. Through social isolation, repressed sexuality, mixed with a kind of sexual excitement from self-inflicted pain, Julianne Moore, starting with a most disturbing birth scene, which opens the movie, lets the viewer see Margaret from within, as well as out, making her both sick and sad. When she says "I love you so much" to her daughter, near the end, the tragic thing that comes through is she really does, but Margaret's priorities and skills in motherhood are somewhat skewered--like a magician's egg cups, which are rearranged. If those priorities and skills could have been just rearranged, Margaret would have been fine, and then, so, might have Carrie.
All of which Julianne conveys in a performance of very little dialogue. What has come to be Margaret's signature line, "Then, he put his filthy hands on me....and I liked it! I LIKED IT!" is spoken almost dismissively, but when she cries out with religiously bent ferocity, "You pray, little girl!!!!!!!
Pray for forgiveness!," as she locks Carrie in that closet, look out!
Who could hold a candle to this??????? No one here; that is for sure! Though Chloe Grace Moretz really tries as Carrie, and her scenes with Julianne have an interesting frisson; maybe because she is working with such a great actress, and maybe because Chloe does have a little acting juice in her! She gets Carrie's shyness and awkwardness, mostly through how she uses her eyes, so that her tranformation into Prom Swan is completely convincing!!!!!!!! But, she is no Sissy Spacek!!!!!!!!!!
That said, I liked the idea of showing off Carrie developing her powers; learning about them, trying to harness them. . And, yes, she still knocks that boy off the bicycle, toward the opening, and good for her!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The war of control in that house between Carrie and Margaret is brilliantly worked out, like a paranormal version of an O'Neill play. Though I have to admit, the scene where Julianne folds in her head, and is hurled backwards into the closet and locked in, by her daughter, had a humorous aspect that made me want to laugh!!!!!!!!!!!
What can be said about the shower scene--probably the second most famous and horrific, since "Psycho"--that hasn't already????? Could it be any more horrible? Yes, with technological
advances, it can and is. Which is something I touched on, nine years before, regarding the 'SVU' episode "Mean"--with technology, mean children can torment their peers anytime, anywhere! Which is demonstrated vividly at the prom, in a scene that actually shocked me, especially as two words flashed through my head, at the time--Tyler Clementi."
Kimberly Pierce, who did the unforgettable "Boys Don't Cry," back in 1999, excels in the areas I have mentioned up to now. It is too bad she did not find actresses who could convey Chris and Sue beyond the stock figures they are here. Portia Doubleday looks more like a school slut, than an entitled Wealth Princess, and poor Gabriella....well, she simply cannot act! Come on, Kimbo, you know actors, why did you go soft here????????????
I will say, almost in sympathetic tandem with Carries, others who have been bullied, and audience members, who may have their own issues, and go to "Carrie" to exorcise them, Pierce does satisfy, with the Prom Sequence. My only criticism here is she does not make clear, as other versions do, and King's story always did, that the selection of Carrie and Tommy Ross that night as Prom King and Queen was forcibly rigged. So, when the action starts, and those who deserve to get theirs, it might be easy to think of some, like gym teacher Miss Desjardin (nicely played by Judy Greer) as collateral damage, but never forget that most of the kids there were in on the whole thing, when they voted for Carrie and Tommy. So what does that say about them???????????
Pierce's ending stops just short of being a homage to De Palma. I liked it, though, once again, Gabriella as Sue was about as emotional with horror watching the White house sink into the ground, destroying both Carrie and Margaret, as someone who has taken too much klonopin. Get this girl some acting lessons, please! Next to her, Lindsay Lohan is Meryl Streep!
Like I said, "Carrie" begins and ends in blood. What follows in between is pretty much paint-by-numbers, with Chloe and Julianne rising above the rest!
So much for what was happening, on screen.
Off screen, this not so young, low class woman, came in, talking and texting, to her heart's content. The movie had not started, so I let it slide. Then, just as the previews began, this serial killer type--obese, shopping bags, lives with his mother; you know the type, darlings!!!!--takes a seat in the center, a few rows ahead of the woman. I was off left, to the side. She continued texting, with the light flashing all over the place, interrupting everyone, but Mr. Loser was the only one to say anything. When it happened a second time, just as the movie was starting, I got into the act, calling her a bitch, with her mouthing off. Fine! We settle down, get engrossed in the film, and I thought the whole thing was forgotten.
The movie ends, I watch the credits. As I get up from my seat, I hear the man and woman getting into a verbal altercation, which turned to physical, with another patron, trying to break it up. Even I felt bad. The woman was being rude, yes, but she did not deserve to get assaulted!!!!!!!!!!!!
I decided I would report this to the customer service desk, out front. When I arrive, I see the guy, seated off to the side; I am not sure who is with him--cops, or what???--but people are. I try to tell the other service rep what happened, when the woman pointed to me, screaming, "Him too! He called me a bitch! Both of them!" I told the service rep this woman was, indeed a bitch, and rude, but I was ready to stick up for her, when I saw her being assaulted, and because of something I witnessed earlier. During the movie, when the prom scene began, and all hell was breaking lose, this guy was furiously rocking back and forth, in his seat. I wondered, what the hell this was all about? I found this disturbing, which is why I decided to say something, and apologize to the woman, who had been nasty to me! The service rep genuinely believed me, thanked me, and gave me a free guest pass! And found my hat for me, which, due to being upset, I had left in the theater!
But would you believe Nasty Woman refused to acknowledge me?????? Bitch! In that case, go home, or to work, and give your employer a blow job!!!!!!!!!!!
This was my day off, and all I wanted was some time at the movies! But I am betting that because the story was so emotionally vitriolic, it fanned the flames igniting in these other two!
One last thing! The prom music was crappy!
They should have used the song, "Prooooooooom Night! Everything is alllllllllll right!," from the 1980, Jamie Lee Curtis classic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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