Todd Haynes crafts a beautiful film here, and probably his finest work to date. Everything is immaculate. From the gorgeous costumes and set design, to the brilliant cinematography, and the subtle screenplay, it all comes together to form a film that captures the feeling of falling in love and love repressed with incredible precision, and the overall effect builds up from scene to scene to something truly heartbreaking and unforgettable. The two performances at its center are organically entwined and that heightens our involvement in this love story. The work of Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara here is simply sublime. The final scenes of Carol are especially astounding, and they conclude to make this romantic drama an experience that has stayed with me long after it was over. A

This just passed Fury Road for my favorite film of the year, something I didn't really think was possible.

Just magnificent on every level. Gorgeous to look at with stunning production values, cinematography and production design. A moody and atmospheric score. Sensitive direction and writing. Powerhouse performances from Rooney Mara and Cate Blanchett, who share a sensational chemistry that makes you really feel for these characters. Everything works. I also liked how despite this mostly being a two woman show the supporting characters were deeply fleshed out. I thought Sarah Paulson and Kyle Chnadler in particular did magnificent work. One of the best films of the year, if not the best. A+

Awful movie with terrible, miscast actresses and bland direction.





J/k of course. 'this very good.

I loved this. Beautifully filmed. I am not sure how I felt about Blanchett. She seemed her usual cold self. Not a bad performance but I have a hard time buying her in roles. She's a little too theatrical usually. While less so here something just felt off with her performance. I feel like another actress, perhaps Julianne Moore, could have done the role more justice. I guess she's good but Mara is better. She's quietly terrific and the strength of the film lies with her, in my opinion. Really loved the final scene in the film.

I definitely want to see it again. I feel like it will only get better with a repeat viewing.

Grade: 9/10 (A-)

I personally think it's the best film of the year and while I haven't seen everything yet, I think it's going to be quite hard to top. The performances are fantastic, the direction is beautiful and it's so quietly heartbreaking.

A+

Carol is an exquisite, exquisite film. It is also, damn it, a trifle dull. Todd Haynes is a director I admire, from the stardust-powered propulsion of Velvet Goldmine (an all-time top-ten favorite of mine) to the paradoxical heartfelt camp of Far from Heaven. Carol is reminiscent from Far from Heaven in a sense: it exhibits a fetish-level nostalgia for the cars, clothing, and furniture of the 1950s, as well as the decade's brand of stylized melodrama. Haynes then tells the type of story the industry would have disguised or outright rejected during the actual '50s: in this case, a lesbian romance shared by wealthy suburban housewife Carol (Cate Blanchett) and wide-eyed salesgirl Therese (Rooney Mara) after a brief encounter in a department store during the holiday season. The film is gorgeous to behold in regard to aesthetic; every frame is a careful and often snow-swept postcard populated by detailed Eisenhower-era ornamentation and atmospheric swirls of cigarette smoke.

However, I know this is a minority opinion, but the actual romance nearly never moves the needle. Moments and scenes intended to convey the intensity of the heroines' longing—Carol tells Therese to put an expensive perfume on her pulse points (sexy!), Therese falls to the ground and vomits when Carol is abruptly absent from her life (woe!)—register as studied, but not alive at their core. A toy-store-perfect simulation of passion devoid of passion. I am perplexed by critics falling over themselves to dub the film devastating or an exaltation of "the sweet science of magnetism." For the first time, Haynes' fastidious and academic production style overpowers the story he is telling rather than intertwining with it. And I am uncertain of both leads' turns, though both are obviously talented in general: Mara internalizes and underplays Therese to the point of rendering her a cipher rather than enigmatic and introverted. For her part, Blanchett tends to overcompensate, lapsing into distancing grand-dame theatricality.

C+

Yeah I kind of agree with you on a lot of the points you made though I still enjoyed the film a lot. A big reason being how beautiful it looks. The more I think about Blanchett's performance the more I dislike it. She's kind of poor, IMO. And the romance isn't very romantic. Her and Mara don't have much chemistry but I blame Blanchett for that. Hell, Mara and Sarah Paulson would have been a better pairing.

I want to watch this one again to better gather my thoughts on it.

More than anything, I truly believe it is the dearth of chemistry which undermines this film for me. This is further cemented the more I reflect on it. One can play the, "It is the guarded and secretive 1950s" card, but, to me, there is zero smolder between Carol and Therese. No sense of them needing to touch one another, know one another, etc. They go on a road trip because...sure, they go on a road trip. I don't know. They never have scintillating or particularly telling conversations. Therese says she needs to start her portfolio. Carol says, "Ah, yes, my dear, flung from space" and has a drag on her Marlboro. It is subtlety verging on catatonia or subtlety disguising two photogenic characters with under-imagined interior lives. The best I can say of Blanchett/Mara as a combo is they pose well together as Todd Haynes sketches his perfectly smoky Vanity Fair images of Eisenhower-era America. Decisions and moments which should seem agonizing (Carol's sexuality becoming a weapon in the custody case) do not because of this.

I've heard those complaints about the film before, but, for me, this film captured falling in love so accurately, and I think it's not just a testament of the direction and screenplay, but also of the two central performances (which I consider to be both actresses' best work ever probably). I felt every single pang of love, every hesitation, every bit of anger and frustration. I've rarely had such an emotional reaction to a film before, and that's because I identified with so many aspects of the situations and the characters. But I guess identifying with and understanding the characters is fundamental to grasping the emotional component here, and obviously not everyone can do that.

I thought Blanchett and Mara had terrific on-screen chemistry.

Blanchett and Mara do have strong chemistry and the story is defintely gripping though I do feel there is a bit missing here to make it one of the best of the year.

An example being Carrie Brownstein. She's in the film for what 2 minutes but gets notable reference in the opening credits. I feel like they were aiming for something with her character but it may have gotten lost on the editing floor.

I am not sure I said it needed more sex scenes per se so much as a stronger sense of desire, excitement, longing, etc. More eroticism, perhaps, but not necessarily more physicality. I see a distinction. The film is so languorous as to undermine its own emotional currents and the believability of the core relationship.

I never particularly believed they were either in love or even deeply, profoundly lusting for one another.

Agreed - just saw this night and was surprised at the acclaim it's getting. The Kyle Chandler plot is the most interesting it gets. I feel a bit indifferent on Mara and Blanchett.

MY MAN

I thought it was a near masterpiece. And it's not just because it was beautifully shot, but I felt an emotional connection to the characters, and to me it conveyed very accurately the act of falling in love. I had a very emotional reaction to the whole thing. And I think people's feelings on the film depend on that emotional connection. So I don't think you can just dismiss critics' (or other peoples') opinions of the film just because they felt more of an emotional connection and saw more depth in this than you did.
And I also don't consider Blanchett's performance to be the same as Blue Jasmine. Yes, the accent is the same and she plays a woman from a higher class, but it's a much warmer and more stable(psychologically) character (at least to me) than the one in Blue Jasmine. And I thought it was better even. More layered, more detailed.

I quite liked it although I do agree that it doesn't have the oomph for me to say this is one of the best films of the year. I was kinda expecting knockout performances but imo Mara is very good and Blanchett is good but doesn't really have material to showcase her strengths. I think what is missing from the film is a sense of connection between the two. Mara and Blanchett's chemistry is good imo but I guess I didn't buy that the desire as the relationship isn't as developed as it could've been. Idk why but Blanchett smiling at Mara at the end almost made me laugh.

A lovely, exquisitely well-acted romance. A-

That is exactly the feeling I had about Carol.

I loved the fabulously reproduced 50's setting and costumes, I loved the two leads, and I loved it's graceful girl meets girl story. But at the end of the movie, I walked out saying "meh". *C+*

Pretty great. For me what makes this film is Carol. Therese's story would be almost the same as if it happened with an older married man. She has little to lose and little people shaming her for this. Perhaps that generational divide is the point. It's Carol where everything is bubbling and burning her alive. One of Blanchett's best performances. There were so many little moments in her mouth or eyes that made the character's dilemmas come alive more.