Carrie: T.V. Version
Cast
Angela Bettis as Carrietta 'Carrie' N. White
Patricia Clarkson as Mrs. Margaret White
Emilie de Ravin as Christine 'Chris' Hargensen
Rena Sofer as Miss Rita Desjarden
Jasmine Guy as Ruby Moore
David Keith as Detective John Mulcahey
Kandyse McClure as Sue Snell
Miles Meadows as Kenny Garson
Tobias Mehler as Tommy Ross
Directed by David Carson
Rater #2 has description and Review
Rater #1
Has not seen movie
Rater #2
4/10. When will major T.V. networks relize that they don't need to remake
every book by Stephen King that was made into a movie? They're all
horrible (especially The Shining), but Carrie wasn't as bad as I
thought it would be.
This time, Carrie White is played by Angela Bettis, a 27-year-old
going on 17 (wait-so was Sissy Spacek in the original. Oh well).
Basically, it's the same plotline as the original, so check it out
there.
This version has almost no thrills (two jumps in the last half-hour)
and tries to be faithful to the book (just like The Shining tried to
do), but can't even succeed in doing that sucessfully. The ending is
different, and I don't like it as much as the book and original.
The visualition of Mrs. White was actually somewhat gruesome, and I
actually commend the makers of this new version for having the guts
(and the special effects) to do this. Bettis was not the Carrie I
know. The makers tried to make her look too mousy and too unliked.
The actors were all good, but nothing else really stood out. To me,
all the actors were unknown.
If a movie is loved by a lot (yet again, I'm also talking about The
Shining), don't remake it. And worse, don't remake it with different
actors who don't look like the original's. Billy Nolan (who was John
Travolta's part in the original), even though his role was small, did
not look right in this new remake.
However, like the original, there were a couple gripes in here too.
Although I didn't say it in the other review, the side characters
were too numerous and under-defined, but they were even worse in this
version. Who was that fat kid?
I didn't really like that police interrogation side-plot, where they
were talking to survivors, because it doused out the already slow-
moving pace. And when I say slow, I mean slow! For example, when
Carrie was trying on makeup took about ten minutes and wasn't
necessary. NBC must have relized that a two-hour time slot wasn't
enought and two-and-a-half hours isn't right also.
That mayhem-filled half hour ending was unrealistic, even if it was
from the book. The book made it seem more real, while this was just
madcap mayhem. The makers tried to put a whole lot of telekinetic
powers into it (I got somewhat of a Matilda vibe), and even in the
book it wasn't like that. They knew that to attract another
demographic they needed more "action" so they put in a lot more
unecessary telekinetic powers.
This isn't a complaint about the movie itself, but about NBC. After
each fifteen minute segment was done and it was time for a
commercial, they showed a clip of the movie. Sounds good, right?
Wrong. They showed the climax of the prom night, which is best left
to be a surprise.
When Carrie is visiting a grave, I kept my fingers in my ears and the
volume turned low because I knew that it would probably be like the
original. Nope. Instead, there was another mini-jump, but I wished
that the makers wouldn't do that to faithful followers of Stephen
King and his book-to-movies.
Rater #3
Has Not Seen Movie.
Rater #4
Has not seen movie.
Rated TV-14 for violence, blood, mayhem, language, and cruelness.
Running time: 180 minutes
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