SnoopyStyle
Frankie (Gary Busey) is a dunk tank clown in a traveling carnival fair. Donna (Jodie Foster) is on a date and falls for Frankie or maybe just the excitement of running away with the circus. She's under-aged but they pretend she's 18. Patch (Robbie Robertson) is his best friend who keeps the circus going patching up the wild unruly group and the little towns they travel through. First Donna starts working as a side girl but Patch sabotages her and it goes badly. Then she works one of the games under Gerta (Meg Foster)'s supervision.The plot meanders and it's hard to see what's the point. The characters aren't compelling. What this movie has is a lot of information about the traveling carnival. Robbie Robertson's low key performance doesn't really help. Gary Busey is holding up his end of the bargain by being a barely restrained clown. Jodie Foster is doing her spunky runaway character. It would be much better if her character is running away from something interesting that drives this movie. The movie kind of meanders and stumbles from one interesting carny scenario to another without really going anywhere.
Red-Barracuda
Carny is an interesting low-key film. It doesn't really have much of a plot. It works far more on atmosphere. The story is about a direction-less teenage girl (Jodie Foster) who runs away with the carnival after she meets a clown there. This leads to some friction between the manager and the clown; while later the carnies have to deal with some vicious local officials. As I say, it's not really much of a story and in order to appreciate Carny you need to find something in the feel of the movie.I guess you could describe the set-up as a love triangle but only to a certain extent, as there really isn't a lot of emotion invested in the romantic side of the story; at the same time, there is a thriller element introduced towards the end and while that was quite good fun, it doesn't really fit all that well and could easily have been omitted. But as I say, the film still makes a mark and that is probably a result of the gritty recreation of carnival life and the good performances underpinning it. Best of the actors is Gary Busey who steals the show in his role as the abusive clown; moreover, the film begins very memorably with close-ups of him applying his clown make-up like it was war paint. In a sense it is, as he is extremely confrontational and goads his audience into throwing balls at him in sheer anger. In fact, the film depicts the carnies in general as primarily fuelled by a desire to fleece whoever enters their lair as they travel from town to town.Carny is an interesting character-driven mood piece. It definitely falls into the cult movie side of the spectrum, as its unusual setting and dynamics will always mean it'll not appeal to everyone but will definitely connect with quite a few who are lured in to sample its wares.
Matt James
An unusual low-budget film about the carnival circuit and the people who run them.Knowing nothing about Carnies beyond them tending to be associated with hard work, light crookedness and putting local girls up the duff and then leaving town, I can't say the film really gripped me or helped me understand them better. More story and character development would have been a big help. I wanted particularly to know more about the backgrounds of the principle trio to understand what drove them and where they thought they were going, if anywhere.That said it's an entertaining film with a solid cast. If you like 70's era films this won't disappoint. I was unsure what to make of Donna (Jodie Foster). Her character seemed to be an odd mixture of conflicts and innocence (soon lost) wrapped around an ambition that would hurt those around her if allowed to go on. Fortunately her two mainstays Patch (Robbie Robertson) and Frankie (Gary Busey) are fairly worldly wise, particularly Patch who oversees the midway and pays off local officials to keep things uncomplicated.Donna tries her (very green) hand in the burlesque tent with predictably bad results, no thanks to Patch. She finally teams up with Gerta (Meg Foster), she of the startlingly pale irises, in the string-pull booth. It could have gone interesting places from there but it ended unsatisfactorily to me and the carnies were portrayed as rogues who were a little too likable. Frankie had his demons but he seemed, at core, a decent guy and his relationship with Donna had real promise that was overlooked.If you're a fan of the principle players or just think that an 18-year old Jodie would be very easy on the eye (as indeed she has always been) then it is worth a look.
udar55
Frankie (Gary Busey) and Patch (Robbie Robertson of The Band) are two carnival hustlers traveling from town to town in the South. In one spot Frankie picks up Donna (Jodie Foster), an 18-year old who literally runs away with the circus. Naturally, things tense up between Frankie and Patch as Donna tries to learn the carny lifestyle. Man, back in the day one could make a movie about the life of carnival workers and it didn't have to be profound or condescending. CARNY just tells it like it is, showcasing the carnival folk and their life. What is so interesting about the film (outside of Busey's maniac performance) is how Robert Kaylor deviates from expectations. One would expect Busey and Robertson to fight over who gets the girl but they don't. Instead, they act normal as Foster is the one who gets emotional over it. The supporting cast is incredible and features Tim Thomerson, Kenneth McMillan, Elisha Cook, Jr., Meg Foster and Teddy Wilson.
AD
