Carol's
love interest, Therese, is played by Rooney Mara, who garnered a
well-deserved nomination for Best Supporting Actress in this film.
Therese is an intelligent, quiet, single woman who has no big future
plans but realizes she's in a holding pattern professionally and
romantically until she figures out a course for her life. Therese has a
boyfriend, Richard (Jake Lacy), who is ready to pop the question, but
Therese's affection for him is tepid, if that.
The
initial contact between the two women occurs in the children's
department when Carol, adorned in a mink coat, purchases for her
daughter a model train at Therese's counter. Carol forgets her gloves,
which Therese mails to Carol's rural New Jersey home, using the sales
slip for the address. Several days later, Carol shows her appreciation
by taking Therese to lunch. It is during that meeting when the two
women feel a friendship possibility. Although Carol is roughly twenty
years older and much more affluent, they converse as equals. With
Christmas approaching, it seems only a bit unusual that Carol would
invite Therese to her Jersey home, or that the younger woman would
accept.
While Carol and Therese are hanging
out there, Carol's husband, Coach Taylor -- I mean Harge (Kyle Chandler)
-- comes home and immediately engages Carol in a heated argument,
without any attempt to conduct the verbal clash out of Therese's
vision. Harge and Carol are in the midst of a potentially nasty
divorce. After he leaves, Carol drives Therese to the train for her
return home to New York. Soon thereafter we understand why Harge is
irate; he figures Carol is romantically involved with Therese, based on
his wife's previous fling with Abby (Sarah Paulson).
The
thought of losing custody of her daughter, Rindy, is too much for Carol
to bear. To alleviate the tension she decides to take a long road trip
west, and invites Therese to accompany her. Therese has no compelling
reason to stay behind. She's in a dead end job under a humorless
unappreciative boss, and has no inclination to elevate her relationship
with Richard to the next stage. Over Richard's objections, she accepts
Carol's offer. Off they go in Carol's stately Packard.
It's
on the road trip that things begin to happen at an accelerated pace.
Harge's suspicions prove to be accurate, shall we say. Carol and
Therese's bond becomes tighter. Director Todd Haynes films the bedroom
scenes skillfully, well within the boundaries of today's "R rating"
range, and in harmony with the classiness of the leads. But speaking of
boundaries, the story does occur in 1952 when society's moral code was
much more conservative. Outside forces required same sex couples to be
more discreet. Failure to do so often resulted in upheavals of life.
Carol, who dreads being legally separated from Rindy, must juggle the
risk with her desire for Therese. There is much more at stake for her
than for her young partner.
The beginning of
the '50's period is beautifully photographed, especially the big city
street scenes with the late model cars. Some great songs by pre-rock
era artists like Perry Como, Eddie Fisher, Billie Holiday and Jo
Stafford are perfectly interspersed throughout the story. Blanchet is
exotically stunning, in a Gwen Stefani kind of way. Mara has the
ability to convey deep feelings without words. But ironically, the
scene that has stuck with me includes neither Blanchet nor Mara. It
occurs in Abby's doorway, when Harge is trying to locate Carol. Abby
won't help him, to which the emotional Harge replies, "I still love my
wife."
The long and winding road trip bogs down a little, but
at least the women are not headed to distant Las Vegas. Rather,
midwestern Waterloo, Iowa is the terminus. Does everything that happens
in Waterloo stay in Waterloo?
No comments:
Post a Comment