The Truth About Charlie Review
Posted by Chris McCarver on 10.28.2002
What is the truth about this movie? Find out with our full review...
The Truth About Charlie
Release Date: October 25th, 2002
Paris is the backdrop for this espionage drama directed by Jonathan Demme ("Silence of the Lambs"). A remake of the 1963 Cary Grant/Audrey Hepburn classic, "Charade," this picture is laden with all the elements of a fine spy film, intrigue, deception, shadowy pasts... it's just too bad that the execution falls as flat as a crepe.
Thandie Newton ("Mission: Impossible 2") stars as Regina Lambert, the unhappy wife of an art dealer who's finally had enough of the neglect her husband's career continually hands her and, during a Caribbean vacation, decides to give husband Charlie his walking papers. Unfortunately, circumstances take care of the matter for her when she comes home to find her husband gone and every belonging in their home missing. Soon afterwards, she's met by two Parisian police detectives (Christine Boisson, Simon Abkarian). They inform her that not only was Charlie killed but several passports with assumed names were found in his effects.
With the help of Joshua (Mark Wahlberg, "Rock Star"), Regina tries to piece together what's left of her apparent sham of a life. It's then that things take an even weirder twist when a government agent (Tim Robbins, "Antitrust") appears saying that Charlie was a covert operative of his and that the remaining members of his team are after a $6 million fortune that she unwittingly has possession of. Regina's then thrust into a rampant chase to get the money she has no clue about but everybody thinks she has.
Visually, this movie comes off with a heavy art-film varnish. Demme and his crew make constant use of unusual camera angles and narrative flashbacks and flash-forwards that would keep the audience continually looking for any details that might escape them. The movie depends heavily on its visuals to convey its message, and in that, it succeeds.
Its failure, however, and one that the imagery can't excuse, is the story. The story does so many flip-flops as to who's lying and who's telling the truth and what the story's really about and who was the killer, that most viewers are going to come out of this film with a migraine. Wahlberg's probably the best (or worst, take your pick) example of this; the establishment of his bonafides doesn't happen until very late in the film and by then, his character's gone through five or six permutations. In addition, there are a number of plot elements that seemingly were just dropped into the mix for S&G value, only a few of which are wrapped up by film's end.
Newton is capable and engaging as Regina, but one just has to wonder why she's continually falling for a guy who's not only lied to her on so many levels, but also has put her life at risk. And speaking of Wahlberg, there are a few points where his dialogue delivery suffers, possibly due to either bad scripting or the need to project the smarminess his character radiates throughout the film's runtime. Boisson and the always-silent Abkarian are somewhat entertaining, but after a while degenerate into window dressing. And Tim Robbins meanders between various levels of homespun charm and monotone deadpan that could be considered good based on what part of the movie you're seeing him in. (And by the way, I defy ANYONE who sees this to tell me what sort of accent Robbins is trying to effect. I saw him going from New England to Southerner to Bostonian and all points in between...)
The 411: Demme seems to be showing his age with this film. His efforts a decade hence ("Silence of the Lambs," "Philadelphia") were and are considered masterworks of filmmaking. "The Truth About Charlie," unfortunately, tries to bank on Demme's cinematic auteur vision to carry this film without a solid narrative. And solid this narrative is not; it jumps around, moonwalks backwards on you when you're not looking, and by the time the last few minutes roll, you're still left wondering the truth about Charlie. If, of course, you still care.
