Carousel is Proof Everything Old is New Again

Love can be tricky at any given time.  But, when one is confronted with an old love the plethora of emotions that engulf your soul can be overwhelming.  Was he/she the one?  Did love pass you by?  Do I wanna go down that rabbit hole of love only to be gutted once more? Do we fall in love too easy?  Do we fall in love too fast?

Noah (Chris Pine) is firmly entrenched in his lonely life, but this life allows him to care for his anxious daughter Maya (Abby Ryder Fortson) and his family medical practice. When Noah learns his old high school girlfriend Rebecca (Jenny Slate) has returned to town, with different life experiences, but the same attraction and shared history of heartbreak, they wonder if love is worth the inevitable pain and complications.

In addition, all of these characters are engulfed in grief.  Grief is a nasty business of unfair trades that can feel like one day there is no sun or that it just didn’t rise. How are we supposed to live knowing that any moment what’s not supposed to happen can?  How do you have any faith? In the carousel of life, when do we get off and why do we stay stuck?

Abby Ryder Forston is an acting tsunami of epic proportions.  She is only scratching the surface of what her skills can encompass.

Chris Pine inhabits a man who doesn’t know who he is .  He knows what his daughter, his ex-wife or Rebecca likes, but has not clue what makes him happy.  Jenny Slate is proof that those who are brilliant with comedy are exceptional with drama.  Her vulnerable, heart open portrayal of Rebecca will tear you apart while cheering for the fact that she says the quiet part out loud.  You know, all those thing one desires to get off their chest after a break up and never do.  I was like “You Go Girl!”

Writer-director Rachel Lambert returns with a story told in a pitch-perfect winsome tone, with a sharp eye that captures essential truths, like to love is to lose. Carousel is a film about lovers, family, getting older, maybe not growing up and how change is the only constant guarantee in life other than birth and death.