Carol

3 1/2 out of 4 Stars

                        Carol is a stunning and deeply moving work of art by the modern maestro of the melodrama, Todd Haynes. Set in early-1950s New York, Therese Belivet (Rooney Mara) is an aspiring photographer/department store clerk who has a chance meeting with Carol Aird, a wealthy housewife in the middle of a divorce, leading to a suspenseful and sincere relationship. While Carol is alone during Christmas, she invites Therese into her home and dysfunctional life as Carol's embittered drunk of a husband, Harge (Kyle Chandler), threatens to claim sole custody their daughter. The story leads into a tender and visually evocative homage to the melodramas of Douglas Sirk, a territory not unfamiliar to Haynes    ( i.e. Far From Heaven).

Cate Blanchett gives a passionate and stunning performance as Carol Aird; she captures the melodramatic pathos of Jane Wyman's Cary Scott in All That Heaven Allows with such radiance. Rooney Mara is incredible as Therese as she juggles the conflicting nature of accepting her sexuality while trying to find a steady relationship with her boyfriend (Jake Lacey). Sarah Paulson is brilliant as Carol's former lover as she tries to stand up for her friend and not succumb to the pressures by Harge.

Todd Haynes succeeds in delivering a tender and poignant look at lesbianism in the early stages of Cold War America. Like his previous work in films like Safe and Velvet Goldmine, Haynes provides a provocative and stylistic look at sexual politics without being overtly salacious. Haynes' vision is simpatico with Phyllis Nagy, who wrote the screenplay over ten years ago despite several turnarounds, by adapting Patricia Highsmith's semi-autobiographical novel. Carol is at its heart a lovely ode to melodramatic cinema with a story that is as significant today as it was published over sixty years ago.