Carolina Caroline - Review

Rating: 5 out of 5

LOVERS on the run in movies is hardly a new concept, having provided the template for some cinematic greats such as Bonnie & Clyde, Badlands and True Romance.

But while Adam Carter Rehmeier’s Carolina Caroline operates in familiar territory, it still delivers in every way possible.

First and foremost, its two leads, Samara Weaving and Kyle Gallner, are brilliant, exhibiting an electrifying chemistry that makes for some scintillating viewing.

But Rehmeier’s direction is great, too, imbuing the film with a mix of classic genre qualities, some early thrill of the chase set pieces and - belatedly - a heightened sense of tragedy.

It’s a neat trick to pull off, even as the film enters darker territory and some of the couple’s deeds become more questionable. There’s a morality at play that is fuelled by the question that Weaving asks of Gallner: “Are we good people pretending to be bad? Or are we bad people pretending to be good?”

The issue of where that line exists is one that becomes increasingly relevant, as the early addictive thrill of their passion-fuelled crime spree gives way to increasingly dangerous and reckless risk-taking that places too many lives at risk.

Weaving plays the Caroline of the title, a bored cleaner at a gas-station store, who spots handsome crook Oliver (Gallner) playing a complicated, banknote-swapping con trick on the elderly cashier, and is interested right away.

She confronts him, as much to entice him as to chastise him, and the two begin a tentative romance, initially under the watchful gaze of Caroline’s beloved father (Jon Gries), who has raised her since her mother skipped town many years ago.

Once they hit the road, however, Caroline becomes increasingly addicted to risk, while contemplating the possibility of visiting her mother (a scenery-chewing extended cameo from Kyra Sedgwick) in Texas. Hence, the criminal duo quickly progress from scamming and shoplifting, to some light pickpocketing, before stepping into the big leagues by robbing banks.

But this brings them notoriety and it’s not long before the cops are hot on their heels, bringing added pressures as - following Caroline’s rueful decision to meet her mum - they decide to amass enough money to escape to a life abroad.

It’s obvious from the flash forward prologue that starts the film that things don’t go to plan, but this doesn’t make the journey any less compelling because Weaving and Gallner are so good together.

Initially, there’s that sense of excitement and passion that the two capture so well - with Weaving in thrall to Gallner’s perceived criminal wisdom, and Gallner increasingly unable to resist Weaving’s desire to take things further.

Rehmeier, for his part, injects the first half of the film with an invigorating energy - flirting with audience perception as much as the characters flirt with each other. Weaving, for her part, is utterly tantalising - but Rehmeier makes her sexy without feeling exploitative or voyeuristic.

The longer the journey lasts, however, the more the film invites the question of who is really leading who? And how good are either of them?

Weaving’s meeting with her mother is an especially compelling and transformation moment - a live wire exchange that emotionally decimates her. It questions the role of parents in shaping their children’s lives (Gallner also is the product of an absentee family).

But as the banks get bigger and their infamy rises, so the two find their window of opportunity closing in on them to the extent that they are forced to come face to face with the low.

One such encounter has a disastrous outcome and seals their fate - but even then, Rehmeier opts for subtlety over anything too grand and overblown.

SPOILER: The moment in which Gallner takes responsibility for his actions is, by turns, achingly romantic and highly tragic. A last stand that carries a genuine emotional gut-punch. It’s testament to the nuance in Gallner’s performance that he pulls it off in such stylish fashion, given the cold bloodedness of the action that prompted it.

But Weaving is terrific too. By turns sexy, vulnerable, feisty and conflicted, she’s not manipulated into her life on the run, rather embracing of it… but slowly finds her conscience eating away at her.

Both stars deliver performances that feel authentic rather than contrived, lending a great deal of heart to a film that deserves to be considered another classic of its genre.

It’s a ride that you may not want to end.

Certificate: 15

Running time: 1hr 45mins