First Things First…
Most people consider this far inferior to the original Brian DePalma film. But most people consider that film a classic, while I’m lukewarm on it. We’ll see if this can stand up to the original’s legacy…
3 Things I Like
3. Ixnay on the Homeschooling
“We’re going to have to call your mother, Carrie. I know she’s had problems with us in the past, ever since the state stopped her from homeschooling you anymore, but we’ve got to bring her into this, okay?”
Principal Morton
Margaret is the type of mom you’d expect to homeschool her child. She already forbids Carrie from going anywhere after school. She believes they’re living in “Godless times.” There’s no way she’s okay sending Carrie to public school.
I’m glad they explain this by mentioning Carrie was homeschooled until the state forced Margaret to stop.
It wouldn’t have been a major plot hole if they never said anything. After all, Margaret works. That could be a reason she couldn’t homeschool. But saying that the state forced her hand not only explains why Carrie is in school, it also gives Margaret another chance to play the victim.
2. Partners in Cruelty
“Run her down. Kill her. Kill her, Billy. Kill her, Billy! Kill her!”
Chris Hargensen
Eat your heart out, Travolta!
Alex Russell makes Billy Nolan cruel and menacing. He’s perfectly at ease bashing a pig’s brain in with a sledgehammer.
And he’s cool with carrying out their prom night plan against Carrie, knowing full well it’s more than a prank—it’s criminal assault.
Just as importantly, unlike John Travolta’s bumpkin-esque take on the character, this Billy is competent and in charge. He’s not as much of a psycho as the Billy from the 2002 movie (who I also like much better than Travolta’s Billy), but he doesn’t let Chris talk down to him or call him stupid. And he’s clearly NOT stupid. He comes up with their plan, he understands the stakes, and every time Chris or one of his boys gets cold feet, he does what needs to be done, quickly and efficiently.
Meanwhile, Portia Doubleday’s Chris Hargensen is vile.
She has it out for Carrie from the moment she realizes she’s in trouble because of the shower incident, never giving an inch in her assertion that she did nothing wrong, and Carrie was asking for it. She even tells Miss Desjardins…
“I’m not going to run another goddamn inch because Carrie White got her period and was too stupid to know what it was.”
But here’s what’s most damning of all about Chris…
The shower incident isn’t a premeditated act of cruelty.
In the heat of the moment, as Carrie is beside herself with fear, Chris’ INSTINCT is cruelty and humiliation—capped off by her decision to record Carrie crying and screaming on the floor, begging for help, while being pelted with tampons.
As if her own actions weren’t effective enough in making her easy to root against, the icing on the cake is that she leans on her daddy—a big-shot lawyer—to try to get her out of trouble.
1. Mother/Daughter
Despite the issues I have with this movie, at least they cast stellar actresses for the two most important roles.
Has Julianne Moore ever been anything less than dazzling, even in poor films?
Here, instead of being as overbearing as Piper Laurie’s Margaret in the original, Moore is more vulnerable by constantly positioning herself as a victim.
Everything is about her. Her beliefs. Her prayers. Her sacrifices.
More than once, Carrie pours her heart out to her mother about what she’s going through, only to be met by derision, Scripture verses, the insistence on praying for repentance, and stories of the things that have been done to her.
Forget taking responsibility for never teaching Carrie about her own body and the changes she’d go through when puberty hits. She actually chastises her for sinning as the cause of the arrival of her period.
But that’s not all Margaret has in her bag of tricks to let her claim victimhood while burdening Carrie with guilt. Moore plays Margaret as almost childlike at times. She self-flagellates, banging her head against the wall and clawing and cutting her own skin until she bleeds. It’s easy to think she does all this to control and manipulate Carrie, and I’m sure that’s part of it. But I think it’s also out of her own inability to process her feelings that Carrie is turning away from her and following the wrong path.
Speaking of Carrie…
With Chloe Grace Moretz’s slight build and the way she shrinks into herself for most of the movie, she’s like a delicate flower who can barely meet anyone’s eyes.
But she blossoms once she finally accepts Tommy’s prom invitation. Her slight smile after she says yes is that glimmer of hope she’s allowed herself to feel. She takes major—but believable—strides toward becoming a whole person, finally participating in her life.
Moretz also channels Carrie’s fear and anger very well when she’s finally pushed too far at prom. Although I don’t love how her arm contortions as she uses her power look right out of a Marvel movie, she transforms into a frightening monster as she locks her classmates in the gym and begins her murder spree.
1 Thing I’m Mixed On
1. All-American Boy?
“I said, ‘Awesome.’ I just thought what Carrie read was awesome. Didn’t you, Mr. Ulmann?”
Tommy Ross
Tommy plays a bigger role here than he does in some other versions of Carrie. And he has some good moments, particularly with the kindness he shows Carrie. He rescues her in class and embarrasses their asshole teacher at the same time. He does everything he can to make her prom night magical. And though this is an of-the-moment reference that seems bizarre now, it’s also hilarious when he tells Miss Desjardins…
“Famous athletes like Tim Tebow, he takes kids to prom all the time and everyone loves him for it.”
But I don’t buy him as the guy all the girls want to date. I don’t buy that he and Sue (who I’ll get to later) are the school’s “it” couple. And he’s actually a bit of a doofus. Carrie, even when she can barely make eye contact with anyone, gives a sigh and an eyeroll when he asks…
“Is that about hypnosis? Because me and my friends, we tried that. We actually hypnotized my boy’s dog.”
For Carrie, Tommy is believable as someone she’d put on a pedestal. But as the All-American Boy everyone puts on a pedestal—I don’t see it.
7 Things I Don’t Like
7. Sue in Court
Including Sue’s testimony at a court hearing is unnecessary.
The book includes many scenes scattered throughout of Sue (and others) giving testimony to an investigative committee. But they’re not scattered throughout the movie. Nor are they used as a framing device at the beginning and end, which would’ve been more effective. Using just this one scene feels pointless.
6. Slavishly Keeping Classic Book Lines
“To the devil with false modesty.”
Tommy Ross
Uggghhh.
I wish they would’ve done away with a few lines from the book. This movie came out 39 years after the book. Some of the dialogue is outdated. We don’t still need Margaret calling her daughter’s boobs “dirtypillows.” And Tommy saying the line above when he tells Carrie they should vote for themselves for Prom King and Queen is awful.
5. Sacrificing Dread to Make a Fun Teen Romp
There should be a sense of dread hanging over this whole movie, but I never felt it. At all. Not even when the girls or Margaret are bullying Carrie.
Instead, it’s like they tried to make a fun teen romp.
Take the scene that cuts back and forth between the girls getting their hair and nails done, and the guys getting their tuxes on. They exude joy. As they should. It’s their prom, and graduation is right around the corner. It’s an exciting time for them. But aside from how annoying Tommy is in this scene, there’s no sense that the clock is ticking down to something horrific. This scene would’ve been more at home in a rom-com.
The final scene doesn’t work for me, either. I’m glad they didn’t repeat the famous hand from the grave, like in the original. But splitting the headstone as some upbeat rock music comes on makes it feel like you should leave the movie feeling good. But that’s not Carrie. And the tone of that ending betrays the fact that a gigantic, town altering tragedy just occurred.
Dread is especially important in a story with such an iconic ending. If you know what’s going to happen to Carrie at the prom, and there aren’t any surprises waiting at the end, it’s even more crucial to play up the impending doom.
4. Sue and Desjardins Can’t Get It Together
Sue rushes to the prom after getting an ominous—and potentially incriminating—text from Chris. But once she arrives, I hate the way the situation plays out between her and Miss Desjardins.
I’m not sure why Desjardins gets such a stick up her ass when she sees Sue. Is it because she’s still worried Sue and Tommy are playing a trick on Carrie? Or is it simply because Sue doesn’t have a ticket?
Either way, Sue has to force herself to be heard. She’s worried Chris is up to something bad, and she suspects it’s more than a cruel prank but dangerous. So grab her if you have to. Slap her, even! (Hell, she’s not above slapping a student.) Stick your phone with Chris’ text in her face. Do whatever it takes to be heard.
Instead, Sue is just a wet blanket.
3. Empty Sue
I hate to keep piling on Sue, but she’s much less substantive in this adaptation than in others, and especially than in the book. She’s in the movie a lot, but they’ve removed almost everything about her dread of the future, of being stuck in the suburbs living the life everyone around her assumes she’ll live with Tommy.
Chris takes one jab at her when she says…
“You kept running, Sue, little Suze, because you’ve been dreaming about senior year and your perfect boyfriend and the perfect prom your whole goddamn life.”
But even this falls flat because, if you haven’t read the book, there’s not much context for how right Chris is, and why this badly wounds Sue.
And without that context, Sue’s insistence on atoning for her part in the shower incident goes overboard. It’s unclear why she feels so much guiltier than the other girls.
Sue’s pregnancy would also matter more if her internal struggle about the future, and about Tommy, was included.
By focusing so much on Tommy, they took too much shine away from Sue.
2. Slick, Not Scary
I didn’t like much of the VFX. It doesn’t look scary or convincing.
I don’t even understand what’s happening when the blood starts coming off Carrie’s arms. And there are many other examples that look silly…
When Carrie cracks the bathroom mirror at school… when she makes books fly around her bed… when she picks her mother up off the floor… when she Force chokes Miss Desjardins.
Plus, some of the gore is made to look slick and stylized. Like when Chris’ face crashes halfway through the windshield and her blood spatters through it, that stylized look makes it more “cool” rather than scary or discomforting.
1. Is She Flying???
And finally, I could’ve included this in the previous point, but it deserves solo recognition.
I mean… what are we doing here? Carrie can fly now?
Tim Matassa
