Perhaps I am unduly influenced by the holiday season, but despite Polanski’s usual screed on the thin veneer of polite society & civility & the reigning principle of violence & upheaval, there was an optimistic undercurrent to this film as shown in the last frame of Carnage & the firm commitment to community despite all the detailed reasons why it fails, is not desired, is difficult & is often not harmonious. Waltz’s strategy in business is not his personal approach to home troubles: he doesn’t deny as he does in business, but admits to a problem & helplessness in the face of it; however he does blame shift so there is some consistency there. (So glad that Waltz gets a chance to act as a character other than a Nazi) Is Polanski getting hope in his old age & perhaps believes in redemption? I think so. P.S. I may be a Penelope.