Carolina Caroline Review

This is all incredibly well played by Weaving and Gallner, two actors who have both managed to build up well-earned credibility that adds cool points to any movie they’re in, thanks to their always strong performances in offbeat and cult-ready films through the years. They’re extremely charismatic and sexy together, very much selling you on the connection Caroline and Oliver quickly form.

Though the film doesn’t give you a lot of specifics on Oliver’s backstory, Gallner expertly conveys the feeling of a guy who’s gone through a lot and has a rather world-weary, old soul perspective on life, and is hiding some sadness behind his friendly demeanor. Weaving, in the middle of a notably busy run of movies — this is her third new release since March — gives her most emotionally vulnerable performance to date, and it really stands out to see her play something this open and raw right after her wickedly funny turn in April’s Over Your Dead Body.

Any film of this sort is all about waiting for the other shoe to drop when things inevitably go wrong pulling off a crime and our protagonists are now in big trouble. And yes, this is the path Carolina Caroline inevitably takes, but Dean and Rehmeier’s approach is very impressive. There is tension and excitement to be sure, but the film stays notably grounded and character-based in a highly effective manner. Ultimately, the portrayal here is much more genuinely moving than some other “sexy criminal couple” movies because you are able to truly invest in the two main characters so much and care about what happens to them.

There are a couple moments in Carolina Caroline that don’t quite work or feel too on-the-nose, including an encounter Caroline has with her absentee mother that feels a bit overly arch and intense despite strong work by the always-great Kyra Sedgwick. As a counterpoint, though, the portrayal of Caroline’s father by Jon Gries, who easily sells you on his character’s warmth and sweetness, shrewdly goes against the grain with the type of parent a girl like Caroline is usually trying to get away from in movies of this sort.

Though set vaguely in the 1970s, Carolina Caroline avoids any overt or distracting “look at how different things were” inclusions or fashion choices beyond a couple of necessary era-appropriate elements like the use of payphones. It all helps to create a certain timeless “this could have happened at any time anywhere” feel.