rikumovie

PASSION (2012). Director/writer: Brian De Palma.

Christine Stanford (Rachel McAdams) is an advertising executive who takes credit for an idea developed by her assistant, Isabelle (Noomi Rapace). When Isabelle starts to assert herself -- and sleep with Christine's what-are-they-thinking? boyfriend, Dirk (Paul Anderson) --  Christine doesn't like it and humiliates her publicly. It all leads to bitchery of the extreme kind, as well as betrayal and murder. This is a remake of the mediocre Love Crime and is slightly better than the foreign original, though no world-beater. The film is more homoerotic than the original, but more likely because De Palma finds girl-on-girl action sexy than because of any desire to seriously explore lesbianism -- in fact, it's fairly exploitative and childish when it comes to the subject. The movie even goes so far as to present a lesbian as a blackmailing sexual predator! [In one stupid scene Christine calls an employee, Dani (Karoline Herfurth) a "dyke" and the latter lets her get away with it even though she just witnessed Christine kissing Isabelle on the lips!] Passion holds the attention and isn't badly acted, but it's nowhere in the league of De Palma's best movies, such as Carrie.

Verdict: Only for people who are easily titillated. **1/2.

Angela Bettis as Carrie White

CARRIE (2002 telefilm). Director: David Carson.

This unnecessary TV remake of Brian De Palma's excellent Carrie tells the same story of a tormented telekinetic teen who wreaks havoc after she's humiliated at the prom, but takes half an hour longer to do so. It could be argued that this is somewhat more faithful to the documentary-type approach of the novel, but the scenes with a cop (David Keith) interviewing different people about the prom disaster that are interspersed throughout the telefilm add nothing to the movie, and only pad the running time so this could air in a three hour time slot (with lots of commercials naturally). Angelis Bettis is quite good as Carrie White, looking a bit more neurotic and freakish than Sissy Spacek, but Patricia Clarkson is completely unimpressive as her mother. Perhaps trying not to imitate the flamboyant Piper Laurie in the original, Clarkson underplays too much and is simply dull; she's more natural than Laurie but much less interesting. Rena Sofer is fine as the gym teacher, and the other young people playing assorted high-schoolers are all okay. This includes some other sequences from the book, such as a meteor shower hitting Carrie's house, and a scene when bitchy Chris Hargensen's father threatens the school with a law suit. Otherwise, it pretty much follows Lawrence D. Cohen's screenplay for the original version, using much of the same dialogue, although, incredibly, only Bryan Fuller is credited. The ending was supposed to make room for a weekly television series about the exploits of Carrie White, but low ratings put paid to that lousy idea. The funniest line has someone remarking that mean girl Chris Hargensen has an IQ of 140 -- sure! The original film was actually moving at times, but this one is not.

Verdict: Some good things in this, including Bettis' performance, but far below the level of the De Palma classic. **1/2.

William Katt and Sissy Spacek

CARRIE (1976). Director: Brian De Palma.

Carrie White (Sissy Spacek) is a shy, tormented high school student in a small town who has a child-abusing, religious fanatic mother (Piper Laurie). Her telekinetic abilities start to reveal themselves along with her awakening womanhood. As penance for her role in making fun of Carrie in a cruel fashion, Sue Snell (Amy Irving of Hide and Seek) importunes her boyfriend, Tommy (William Katt) to take Carrie to the prom in her place. Unfortunately Sue's bitchy friend Chris (Nancy Allen) -- the ultimate "mean girl" --  and her boyfriend Billy (John Travolta) have diabolical plans for Carrie, who responds in a powerful fashion of her own ... Lawrence D. Cohen's screenplay improves upon Stephen King's potboiler novel, and the film is extremely well-directed by De Palma [The Black Dahlia], one of the very few directors who can make effective use of slow-motion and split screens. Adding to the strength of the movie are the performances, especially by Spacek, who creates deep sympathy for her character without ever becoming cloying. It could be argued that Laurie [Trauma] is a little over-the-top. but she's effective and interesting (which is more than you can say for the actresses who tackled the role in the two remakes). Katt, Irving, Allen and Travolta are all perfect, as is Betty Buckley as the compassionate gym teacher, Miss Collins. The contribution played by Pino Donaggio's excellent score can not be underestimated (he employs Psycho strings on occasion but can he forgiven for that). The songs at the prom are memorable and evocative as well.

Verdict: A classic and by far the best version of this compelling story. ***1/2.