The Truth about Charlie

This film is billed as a remake of Charade (1963) with Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn and indeed it is, specifically in the details of the characters, their names and the plot. It takes place in Paris as did the original, but Paris has changed in 40 years and so has the motion picture industry. Orchestrated low-key intrigue is replaced with athletics, handheld digital video camera work and extemporaneous dialog. There is also present day ethnic cast diversity that was not in 1960s films. All this change does not make a bad film, just significantly different. The target audience is young, brought up on MTV, expecting stimulation, and not thoughtful nuances.

Thandie Newton plays Regina, the protagonist and the object of attention. Her fear, curiosity and attraction to the male lead drive the story forward. She is a fairly new actress and she played Nyah in Mission Impossible II (2000). She is Zimbabwean, the daughter of a Shona princess; studied modern dance; graduated from Cambridge with a degree in Anthropology. She is a vital and energetic performer enjoyable to watch and the antithesis of the gamin Hepburn.

Mark Wahlberg plays the male lead, Joshua alias Alex alias the real Lewis Bartholomew. One of nine children, he has left behind poverty, delinquency, fighting, modeling underwear, music and rapping to make it big in films and buy himself and his mother a $5 million place in Beverly Hills. His first film was Renaissance Man (1994) but his real success was in Boogie Nights (1997). He has also appeared in Perfect Storm (2000) and Planet of the Apes (2001).

Tim Robbins plays Carson Dyle and of all the supporting cast I thought his performance the weakest. It just didnt seem to fit. He has been in many films but I liked him best as Andy Dufresne in The Shawshank Redemption (1994). Lisa Gay Hamilton plays Lola, Joong-Hoon Park plays Il-Sang Lee and Ted Levine plays Emil (Zad). I was impressed with Hamiltons work. She has been in Twelve Monkeys (1995), Jackie Brown (1997), Beloved (1998) and The Sum of All Fears (2002). One particular cast change I liked was a switch from male to female gendarme, where Christine Boisson plays Commandant Dominique. Boissons first film was the sex cult classic Emmanuel (1974). Agnes Varda plays Charlies mother a bit part but ironic and funny. She is also in one of the visuals that are cut into the credits at the end.

Overall the film is good entertainment. However, there is an undercurrent of emotional playfulness that dispels tension, as though the cast were doing a huge fraternity charade. The making of interviews on the DVD verified this for me. I also thought that Regina lacked causal motivation for staying in danger probably true in the original story too. The driver of the car that kills a main character is never charged maybe thats life in Paris?

Reviewed April 9, 2003