Movie Review: 'Carol'
By Bill Wine
KYW Newsradio 1060
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A reminder as you make room on that Oscar nomination ballot: there are two t's in Blanchett and two o's in Rooney.
Cate Blanchett stars as the title character in Carol, but it's the role of Therese and the performance of Rooney Mara that anchors this exquisite romantic drama and makes it unforgettable.
Based on the 1953 novel, The Price of Salt, by Patricia Highsmith (published under the pseudonym, Claire Morgan), it's the story of a lesbian romance during an era when same-sex relationships stayed surreptitious, to say the least.
In New York City in the 1950s, well-heeled, mink-clad department store customer Carol is waited on by shy salesperson Therese.
At first, they just go about their business and are perhaps mildly intrigued and a trifle curious about one another, with Therese responding to Carol's seasoned self-assurance, Carol to Therese's youthful reserve.
But their subconscious behaviors – to say nothing of the troubled relationship each is currently living with and through at home – makes it clear that there's something more going on here, that each of them is clearly looking for something emotionally fulfilling that she doesn't presently have, and that they come alive in each other's company.
Director Todd Haynes (Poison, Safe, Velvet Goldmine, I'm Not There) earlier explored forbidden same-sex relationships, among other things, in his brilliant 2002 melodrama, Far From Heaven.
Once again, he delivers a sure-handed period piece that splendidly captures the era depicted, but that also resonates for modern audiences as if it were contemporarily set, with a sensitive, nuanced screenplay by Phyllis Nagy that represents a vivid snapshot of the era and is done full justice to by the two lead actresses, who deliver a subdued avalanche of telling gestures.
Blanchett is fine, but we've become so accustomed to her excellence that we more or less take her contribution for granted.
Mara, on the other hand, is a revelation. Stardom may have eluded her after her lead role and Oscar nomination for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, but her performance in Carol – with a humble but steely presence that can't help but remind of-age viewers of the iconic Audrey Hepburn – should kick in now, with her beautifully calibrated and thoughtfully understated turn assuring her of an Oscar nomination.
So we'll forbid 3½ stars out of 4 for a touching taboo-romance drama. This is no Christmas Carol, but a dual character study that speaks to us on any day and in any era.
