Hamptons Pride Film Screening at Bay Street — Carole Revisited: Forbidden Longing or Timeless Romance?

**Note: The Hamptons Pride Screening of Carol at Bay Street Theater scheduled for Feb. 22 has been postponed to Mar. 22 due to severe weather conditions. 

Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, martinis, melancholy — and now screening at the Hamptons Pride Film Series at Bay Street Theater.

When Carol first came out (no pun) in 2015, the word was it was “disappointing.” I remember thinking, Did we really need another tortured lesbian-longing film? Women never fare well in these films — always punished and made to suffer because they are unhappy with the norm and have a girl crush that usually ends up getting, well, crushed.

But then again, so few movies are made about lesbian longing that the pressure is always on, and everyone becomes a critic.

Carole (2015) screening at Hamptons Pride Film Fest, Bay Street Theater, Mar. 22. Photo courtesy of Hamptons Pride

Here’s my Angela on the Aisle two-cents review:

Cate Blanchett as “Carol” has a way with a cigarette and a flair for ordering the most appetizing martinis (the movie makes you want to smoke and drink and live in a fancy house — duh).

Carol has a thing for Therese (or is it anyone other than her husband?) but seems equally into the color red — daring in her red coat, red lipstick and red nail polish. Take away her ritzy lifestyle and nice car, and Carol is a dramatic, selfish bore and a narcissist — though she is shamelessly aggressive (which I guess has its appeal).

Rooney Mara, as the gullible, young modern-day Audrey Hepburn who falls hard, has perfected the dewy-eyed stare. But as Eric Clapton wrote in a song lyric, “Why does love got to be so sad?” Good cinematography and a haunting score are a plus.

Favorite (LOL) lines: “Just when you think it can’t get any worse, you run out of cigarettes.” “I’m going away for a while.” “Where?” “Wherever my car will take me.” And “There’s always Abby…” (A-)

Hamptons Pride screening of Carol is Sunday, Mar.. 22 at 4 p.m. Bay Street Theater. baystreet.org

Angela LaGreca

Editor, Co-Founder/Publisher

Angela LaGreca, Editor-in-chief and co-Founder/Publisher of Spark Hamptons, is a four-time Emmy Award-winning journalist, producer, writer and comedian/host. Her TV credits include NBC’s “Today,” ABC’s “The View,” and, most recently, the primetime cable news program “Cuomo” on NewsNation. On the East End, she was the Creative Director at LTV, VP Features/Events/Photo Editor at Dan’s Papers, and has performed at Guild Hall, Bay Street Theater and the WHBPAC. Her publishing career began at Modern Photography, where she was managing editor. LaGreca lives in Manhattan and East Hampton and can be reached at angelatvmedia@gmail.com and angela@sparkhamptons.com .