By Chris Luckett
2 stars out of 5
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| Photo: Sony Pictures |
As blasphemous as it is to say, 1976’s Carrie is not a great movie. Most of the
acting is either wooden or exaggerated, its symbolism is overtly obvious, and
it takes a long time for much of significance to happen. The one thing it does
fantastically, though – so well, in fact, that many call Carrie a masterpiece – is deliver an emotional payoff.
Carrie is mostly remembered for its prom-set ending, when the bullied
teenager and fledgling telekinesist gets her revenge. After audiences spend
over an hour watching Sissy Spacek’s meek protagonist being tortured at school
and at home, the sense of vengeance and justice that is unleashed at the climax
is nearly palpable. The two keys to that were the over-the-top tone of the
characters and the twisted eye of director Brian De Palma. Both are sorely
missed in this remake.
While nothing new happens in the first half
of the movie, the script makes sure to throw modern affects into the script to
try to appeal to teenagers. (“Look, they’re filming Carrie’s bullying on a cell
phone!” “Hey, they uploaded their video to YouTube, just like I do!”)
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| Photo: Sony Pictures |
Chloë Grace Moretz plays a Carrie White for
the modern age. She’s less naïve and more strong-willed, but still tragically
meek. Moretz is certainly fine in the role, but it’s a real waste of her
talent. Besides Moretz, the only other actor who seems to understand the right
pitch at which to play her character is Judy Greer as Carrie’s sympathetic gym
teacher.
Carrie’s fanatically religious mother (played
now by Julianne Moore) and the popular kids at school who bully Carrie are meant
to be unlikeable people. The original knew this and purposely amped their
traits into caricature territory to make them despicable. This version doesn’t
go far enough with it, though, which makes things emotionally tricky as later
plot points arise.
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| Photo: Sony Pictures |
There are differences in the plot of this
remake, but they won’t be spoiled here. While the alterations often a slight
change of pace, they slow down a movie that really shouldn’t feel anywhere near
as long as it does. And some of the changes are just laughably bad.
Director Kimberly Pierce is an adequate
director, but she has very little style – which is one thing nobody could
accuse Brian De Palma of having. The dull scenes in the original still found
ways to entertain through De Palma’s crazy direction and eye for odd camera
angles. When Pierce isn’t aping De Palma’s shots, though, she has no eye of her
own.
There’s lots of blood and plenty of
intended emotion, but the movie’s ultimately as stiff as the dead and as poorly made as a soap, at times. If Lifetime
made horror movies, Pierce’s remake of Carrie
feels like it would be one of them.
