May 25, 2009
‘Carrie’ update is far less a scream
Who Carries? Even in an age of prequels, sequels and remakes, is anyone out there really eager for a second version of Carrie? Brian De Palma’s 1976 version of Carrie is not just well known and readily available, it’s as good a film version of the Stephen King book as you’re likely to see. So why see another one?
It can’t be for the surprise. NBC clearly assumes we all know how the story ends or it wouldn’t be running promos that spill every major plot point, including the bucket of blood and Carrie’s post-prom tantrum. And even without the ads, the remake itself removes all suspense by using a police investigation framing device that gives away upcoming events as it movies along.
Beyond that, the only new idea the movie has is a bad one: an ending that is far less satisfying than the original.
Still, artistic endeavors have to stand or fall on their own — and on that count, Carrie’s problem is less redundancy than duration. King’s tale of a wronged teenage girl overflows with metaphorical themes: the suffering of outcasts, the evils of twisted religiosity, the cruelty of children and the power of the onslaught of teenage sexuality. But when it comes to plot, Carrie is one simple, straight line: Kids are mean to Carrie, and she gets them back.
While that was adequate for 90 big-screen minutes, it’s too thin to support three hours. You get some added background information and some 21st-century updates, but otherwise, it’s a long march to the climax. We’re introduced to the story by Sue Snell (Kandyse McClure), who is telling David Keith’s cop about Carrie (Angela Bettis). Abused by her insanely strict mother (Patricia Clarkson), Carrie has no concept of a normal sexual life — and no idea what is happening to her when she gets her first period in the gym’s shower.
Her classmates torture her, a scene that might resonate more if the girls didn’t all look as if they had wandered over from a WB soap. Granted, Carrie would be out of place in almost any high school. But who would fit in with these kids? It’s as if she’s attending Satan’s School for Teenage Models.
Carrie, however, has hidden resources: telekinetic powers. Eventually those powers will get away from her and in ways that may strike some parents as less entertaining than they once seemed, considering that the new ending blunts the moral of the story.
Clarkson makes for an excellent, understated psychotic, and Bettis is a sympathetically convincing Carrie, but neither performance does much to justify the movie’s existence. They should have filmed the Broadway musical Carrie, a failure that has become the standard against which all flops are measured.
At least that, we haven’t seen.
