Indie Gems: Charlie Countryman

-
Is it necessary for Charlie to die?

I couldn't help but reference the film's original title. They should've kept it.

Charlie's (Shia LaBeouf) mother (Melissa Leo) has just passed away. Charlie feels lost and has a vision of his mother after she dies. She tells him to go to Bucharest, Romania. He does just that, when a man he's sitting next to on the plane dies, he has another vision to meet the man's daughter. He also does just that, he meets Gabi (Evan Rachel Wood) a beautiful and now heartbroken cello player. He's drawn to her immediately, but her ex husband Nigel (Mads Mikkelsen) is still in the picture and he is a dangerous man.

The thing that sticks out the most in this film is the music, it's absolutely beautiful. It fits with the fast scenes and free spirits that Charlie and Gabi so obviously have. It can be brutal at times, but it never feels over the top. The cast is great. Rupert Grint has a small role as an aspiring porn star Charlie meets in a hostel that's definitely amusing. Shia, well, I get that people hate him. I've never been one of those people. I've always thought he was alluring on screen, and there's no exception here. I think this might be one of his best features. Evan Rachel Wood was great as well. I can't tell you if her Romanian accent was convincing or not. I'm not familiar with them. It seemed like a decent Eastern European accent. Mads was interesting too. He's dangerous, but at times very amusing.

And don't worry, Charlie's mother does eventually explain why she picked Bucharest. That was kind of getting on my nerves because it's not addressed until the end.

Grade: A

Memorable Quote: "That is the most pathetic display of puffer fish.." - Nigel (Mads Mikkelson)

Comments

  1. Dan O.February 28, 2014 at 9:49 AM

    Good review Brittani. Some may consider this to be "overly stylized", but I think that's what I liked so much about this movie. It took a fairly conventional premise, and spun it in a way that made it interesting and worth paying attention to.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamFebruary 28, 2014 at 11:00 AM

      Definitely! I loved it. If I had seen this before I made my top 10 of 2013. This would've been on it.

      Delete
  2. JoshFebruary 28, 2014 at 11:07 AM

    I had a few problems with it, but the music was great, indeed. I liked Shia's and Evan Rachel Wood's performances too. B for me.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lights Camera ReactionMarch 1, 2014 at 9:48 AM

    I really enjoyed it. A lot of the stylised aspects really worked for me, not to mention the awesome and fitting soundtrack. Shia LaBeouf was surprisingly excellent, Mads Mikkelsen was brilliantly terrifying and I’m forever still in love with Evan Rachel Wood.

    However, the film is everywhere and nowhere at once. I really loved the first half, and then it completely shifts tone in a really unsubtle way, which I didn’t care for. There’s so many different things going on in the film, that it loses its identity. Ironic since its about the quest for love and discovery of self-identity. Charlie Countryman suffers from some shoddy writing. I loved the cast and the film is visually gorgeous.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamMarch 1, 2014 at 10:28 AM

      I didn't think the writing was too shoddy, it really is just an enjoyable film to watch. I am in love with ERW as well, she's been one of my favorites since the first time I saw Thirteen.

      Delete
  4. s.March 1, 2014 at 10:10 AM

    I still haven't seen this one but it's high up on my watchlist :) I can't stand Shia but Mads will definitely even things out for me :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamMarch 1, 2014 at 10:28 AM

      Mads is a total creep in this! Poor Shia, everyone hates that dude. lol

      Delete
  5. RaghavMarch 5, 2014 at 10:47 AM

    Thanks Brit. I was double minded about watching this one, but now I'll give it a go.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for stopping by, let's talk movies!
(comments are moderated to reduce spam)

Popular posts from this blog

Random Ramblings: The Radio Flyer Conundrum

-
Image
Recently, I was talking to someone about who I thought were the best child actors when I was also a child.  Two that really stood out to me were Elijah Wood and Joseph Mazello, and one film those two were in together was called Radio Flyer.  Then I was reminded about the uniqueness of this film. Instead of reviewing the film, I wanted to have an open discussion about the ending. It deals with a tough issue; child abuse. What I’ve noticed is the way that the film ends is interpreted many different ways, and the filmmakers never came forward to say what was right and wrong. I’m interested in hearing everyone’s opinions on it. How did you interpret the ending? Obviously spoiler alerts will follow.. For those of you who haven’t seen the film, the basic premise is this: Two young boys, Mikey (Wood) and Bobby (Mazello) move in with their single mother and her boyfriend, who refers to himself as ‘The King’. It doesn’t take long for The King to start physically abusing Bobby, and the
Read more

Indie Gems: Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

-
Image
Passionate about your profession? I had never heard of this film until it ended up on one of Jason's favorite horror movie lists around Halloween. It immediately sounded interesting to me, so of course I threw it in my Netflix queue. (and if I'm just now watching it after adding it around Halloween, you know how ridiculous my queue is) Taylor (Angela Goethals) is a journalist who, along with a film crew decides to follow around a serial killer named Leslie Vernon. (Nathan Baesel) He plans on doing the typical slasher thing - getting a bunch of drunk teens in an abandoned house and knocking them off one by one. He gets advice from a retired serial killer, Eugene (Scott Wilson) and is threatened by a man who's on to him, Doc Holloran (Robert Englund) Taylor and crew are there capturing it all. Leslie Vernon is fucking hilarious to start with, and clearly very passionate about what he does. He tells Taylor all of his secrets and can barely contain his excitemen
Read more

Please join me in my Favorite Movie Titles Blogathon!

-
Image
Earlier this week I made a post where I ran through the letters of the alphabet with my favorite movie titles. There were a few people that suggested I turn it into a blogathon, and I've never done that before. So here goes nothing! Since this is my first attempt at a blogathon, it's all pretty simple, and it's hopefully a quick post that everyone can join in. Rules: 1) Going through the alphabet, list your favorite movie title beginning with each letter.  2) You don't have to necessarily  like the movie to use it's title.  3) Use the banner at the top of this post in yours. 4) Please have submissions in by Friday, May 30th*. (But I'll be honest, if you send them to me after that date, I'll still add them to my post.) You can either leave a link to your post in the comments here or tweet it to me, ( @ramblingfilm )  Thanks everyone! :)  *I had to move the date back a week due to Photobucket threatening me with bandwidth issues. But
Read more