Carrie

Starring;
Chloe Grace-Moretz
Julianne Moore
Judy Greer
Barry Shabaka Henley


Director;
Kimberly Peirce

In three words; Amateurish - Lazy - Forgettable


Review;
Remake. This is a word which really brings terror to my heart given the abundance of them which we have had to suffer over the last few years. Halloween, Friday the 13th, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Omen, the list goes on. The one recurring factor with all of these films is that they are dreadful. So with the announcement of a Carrie remake on the way you would think that I would be avoiding it, but no, I was actually looking forward to seeing an updated version of Brian De Palma's classic. The reason for this was that the cast included the usually excellent Chloe Grace-Moretz as the title character and two time Oscar nominee Julianne Moore.

Although my expectations were slightly higher than for any other recent remake I still approached the cinema with caution. This caution was well founded. From the off it was obvious that what director Kimberly Peirce had delivered was going to be poor. Chloe Grace-Mortz is 16 years of age playing a 17 year old. Seldom will you see people of this age playing their own age in such a genre. For example the other high school pupils here are all played by actors who are in their 20's. Perhaps it could be said that Peirce had deliberately cast a younger person to play Carrie and surrounded her by older people in an attempt to show her in a more naïve way. If this was the thinking behind it then it completely backfired.

I believe the CGM is an excellent actress with a very bright future ahead of her, my issue here is that she does not have the experience or the ability right now to pull off such a complex character. This poor choice in casting has to fall to the hands of Kimberly Peirce who, rather ironically, has been completely naïve in utilising such a young actress for a part way beyond her current capabilities.

Comparisons are going to be made between this film and the original, this is the cross a remake has to bear. Sissy Spacek was 27 when she played the telekinetic teenager, the maturity she had to bring to the role is obvious for all to see. She was able to deliver a performance where no matter what her Carrie did you always felt sorry for her. CGM is unable to communicate this to her audience, she constantly overplays her shyness and vulnerability and when it comes to unleashing holy hell on her tormentors she seems to enjoy it. This is where the film primary falls down and exposes Peirce as a one hit wonder director.

Furthermore the casting in general for this film is dreadful. On paper there should be an element of excitement seeing that Julianne Moore is playing Carrie's overbearing, religious nut of a mother. Yet Moore gives a lazy and at time laughable performance. It was akin to Nicolas Cage's performance in The Wicker Man. Notwithstanding Judy Geer and Barry Shabake Henley playing Miss Desjardin and Principal Morton respectively, the rest of the cast are forgettable.

The final nail in the coffin is the use of digital filming and projection. This does not compliment the story and until such time that digital can recreate the grain and distortion of film it should be avoided. This along side the dreadful editing, I've never see so many cuts in one scene before, cements this remake with the rest of the amateurish folly which came before it. RIP Carrie!!

Verdict;
1 out of 5.