... The apartment that she shares with her husband has been completely stripped, and there is no sign of any of her clothes or other possessions. Waiting in the apartment is a female police officer, who quickly escorts her to the police station to advise her that her husband has been found dead. ... Read review
It seems blasphemous to remake Stanley Donen's classic romantic thrillerCharade, butThe ... more
Truth About Charlieachieves its own unique identity. Rather than mimic the inimitable chemistry of the original, director Jonathan Demme takes a vividly contemporar...
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From the director of 'Silence Of The Lambs' and 'Philadelphia' comes this contemporary ... more
remake of the classic 1963 thriller 'Charade.'Following the death of her husband - Charles, 'Reggie' (Thandie Newton - Mission Impossible II) soon realises that he l...
It seems blasphemous to remake Stanley Donen's classic romantic thrillerCharade, butThe ... more
Truth About Charlieachieves its own unique identity. Rather than mimic the inimitable chemistry of the original, director Jonathan Demme takes a vividly contemporar...
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Regina Lampert (Newton) has gone back home to Paris to finally screw up the courage to ask ... more
her husband Charlie (Dillane) for a divorce. Upon arriving Regina finds her home turned upside down her husband dead and gangs of thugs cops and a U.S. gove...
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It seems blasphemous to remake Stanley Donen's classic romantic thrillerCharade, butThe ... more
Truth About Charlieachieves its own unique identity. Rather than mimic the inimitable chemistry of the original, director Jonathan Demme takes a vividly contemporary approach, with Mark Wahlberg and Thandie Newton well cast in roles originated by Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn. The plot's essentially the same, kicking into high gear when Newton--the unwitting courier of a priceless treasure--is chased around Paris by her murdered husband's military cohorts, an avuncular embassy official (Tim Robbins), and a suave stranger (Wahlberg) whose true identity remains elusive. In a film filled with twists and turns, Demme fails to find a consistent tone of humor, romance, and danger. But he's crafted a peculiar Parisian valentine, seasoned with Gallic cameos (singer Charles Aznavour, Anna Karina, director Agnès Varda) and vibrantly alive with music, style, and forward momentum.Charadeit's not, but that's not necessarily a complaint. --Jeff Shannon
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Thriller - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Timothy West, Neil Morrissey, Tara Fitzgerald, Annette Crosbie, Pauline Quirke, Rob Brydon, Denise Van Outen, John Thomson, Kevin Whately, David Suchet
Production Year: 2002 - Thriller - Director: Bharat Nalluri, Rob Bailey, Andy Wilson - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Matthew MacFadyen, Keeley Hawes, David Oyelowo, Peter Firth, Jenny Agutter, Lisa Faulkner
Advantages: It ends, Marky Mark briefly gets his tits out Disadvantages: Everything else imaginable
...to a few unpleasant surprises. The apartment that she shares with her husband has been completely stripped, and there is no sign of any of her clothes or other possessions. Waiting in the apartment is a female police officer, who quickly escorts her to the police station to advise her that her husband has been found dead. A brief identification process formally confirms this to be the case, and Reggie suddenly finds herself homeless, single and very ... ...life.
Enlisting the aid of a young American man (Lewis) that she met whilst on holiday, she sets about trying to discover what happened to her husband. She secretly meets an employee of the American Embassy and is shocked to discover that her husband had been working covertly for the Americans. It transpires that he was part of a special mission involving a group of other individuals, during which a large amount of money was misappropriated. ... more
When she returns to Paris from a luxury Caribbean holiday, Regina Lambert comes home to a few unpleasant surprises. The apartment that she shares with her husband has been completely stripped, and there is no sign of any of her clothes or other possessions. Waiting in the apartment is a female police officer, who quickly escorts her to the police station to advise her that her husband has been found dead. A brief identification process formally confirms this to be the case, and Reggie suddenly finds herself homeless, single and very confused. Amongst the possessions found with her husband’s body are a number of different international passports containing her husband’s picture. It would seem that he was leading something of a secret life.
Enlisting the aid of a young American man (Lewis) that she met whilst on holiday, she sets about trying to discover what happened to her husband. She secretly meets an employee of the American Embassy and is shocked to discover that her husband had been working covertly for the Americans. It transpires that he was part of a special mission involving a group of other individuals, during which a large amount of money was misappropriated. Her husband was the last person to see the money, and she is warned that there are others who are likely to try and find her in order to get what they believe to be their share of the money. The contents of her husband’s case would appear to be the only clues as to where the money might be, but as events twist and turn, Reggie soon finds herself questioning the identity of everyone around her. Who can she trust and what is the secret behind her husband’s demise?
The Truth About Charlie is a remake of the 1963 classic thriller, “Charade”, which starred Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn. I have to admit that I haven’t seen the original version of the film, so cannot really make any comparison between the two. That aside, I am reliably informed that the original version was much better, which doesn’t come as any surprise because you wouldn’t have try that hard to beat this bag of rubbish.
The Truth About Charlie is a strange concoction of different things. Sometimes, it feels quite fresh and quirky, but for most of the time it’s dreadfully, painfully dull. All the things that should lift it and breathe life into are either missing or completely wrong, and the whole spectacle quickly crashes and burns. Conceptually, both The Truth and Charade work on the same premise – they are both romantic thrillers. Sadly, The Truth is neither thrilling nor romantic and you do wonder why anyone would go to the time and effort to make it.
Romance is portrayed in many ways, but more often than not relies heavily on the chemistry between characters and/or actors. With the right people in the right place, you can just about make love blossom from nowhere, but there ain’t none of that going on here. For starters, the choice of actor for the two lead roles is completely uninspired. As Lewis, Mark Walhberg is pleasant enough, but he was never the greatest actor in the world, and this role exposes his inadequacies. He lacks any real presence or charisma and although he might look good in Calvin Klein underwear, he fails to inspire any interest in the story. His opposite number, Reggie (Thandie Newton) is even worse. Initially, she is irritating, but very soon she becomes excruciating and virtually unbearable to watch. So what happens when you pair up a helpless female with a gormless jock? The answer of course is not much, and watching the two of them trying to strike up a spark is like watching a caveman discover fire for the first time.
The Truth About Charlie may be a modern film, but its traditional plot is evident from start to finish. This is another one of those films that feels like a black and white film that has been made in colour. Characters who are clearly not what they claim to be stand out like a burglar in a striped sweater, and the twists are all so painfully obvious that the only surprise to be had is the time taken to get there. The trouble is that the whole thing feels so terribly convoluted. Reggie just happens to bump into Lewis at the airport in one of those, “Fancy meeting you here!” kind of torturous ways and things go downhill from there. Characters come and go and roles chop and change like the weather. One minute somebody appears to be a good guy and the next minute they turn into a bad guy, with little or no explanation. Even Reggie seems to get a little confused with the whole thing, and seems terribly upset about a death in one scene when it appeared to me that the victim was actually after her anyway!
Contrary to what you might be thinking, there were things about this film that I actually liked. The music is unusual and vibrant and at times it helps keeps things moving along. The locations are gorgeous – I’m quite sure that Paris was designed purely as a setting for films like this and it has never looked better. The director makes full use of the narrow, historic streets and the tone of the whole movie is completely Parisian. Some parts of the film were rather obscure – Charles Aznavour drops in for a few singing cameos, and there is a very odd scene on a dance floor where the cast switch partners at intervals. These moments betray a skill and flair for film that is sadly missing in most of the rest of the picture and I couldn’t help thinking that this could all have been a lot better. Of course, you can’t escape the fact that this is essentially another one of those modern-day remakes that not only fails to improve on the original, but actually does the whole thing a terrible disservice. Methinks that Mr Wahlberg should stick to action films and underwear adverts from now on.
Not recommended
Quick Facts
Directed by: Jonathan Demme Written by: Peter Stone Running Time: 104 minutes UK certificate: 12A Alerts: minor violent content Notable appearances: Mark Wahlberg, Tim Robbins and Thandie Newton You’ll like this if you like: No comment
Advantages: gripping film Disadvantages: slightly confusing
...was that drew me to the film 'The Truth about Charlie'. On the cover of the DVD it was described as gripping and also as an engrossing saga of sex lies and espionage. I usually enjoy a good thriller so I thought that I would give it a go especially as it was directed by Jonathan Demme who also directed The Silence of the Lambs. There was also something quite intriguing about the title as well. I didn't think that the title was that inspired at first ... ...in the word Charlie were a different colour to the rest, and were actually the same colour as the word 'truth'. This meant that I was drawn to the two words - truth and lie - which I thought was rather clever. There is an awful lot that happens in this film and you do have to concentrate quite a bit as you are watching. At the start, Regina Lambert (Thandie Newson) returns home to Paris after holidaying in the Caribbean to discover that her husband ...
kingfisher111 01.11.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Truth About Charlie (DVD)
A remake of the classic 1963 thriller 'Charade' telling the story of Regina Lambert who is experiencing second thoughts about her recent marriage to Charles. She takes a holiday without him where she meets an American called Joshua Peters and they strike up a friendship. On her arrival home in Paris Regina is told that her husband has been murdered. It soon becomes clear that Charles led a double life and was involved in the theft of six million dollars...
Release details
DVD Region
DVD
Studio(s)
UNIVERSAL PICTURES UK; UNIVERSAL MUSIC OPERATIONS
Release date
29/09/2003
No of Discs
1
Catalogue No
820 092 0
Barcode
5050582009200
Screenwriter
Peter Stone, Steve Schmidt, Peter Joshua, Jessica Bendinger, Jonathan Demme
"...The production has an absolute sheen....Romantic, dangerous and fun to visit..." (Hollywood Reporter, p.66, 22/10/2002)
"...Most of the film's allure comes from the sensual, butter-voiced Thandie Newton; with her, Mr. Demme has found the 21st-century corollary to Audrey Hepburn..." (New York Times, p.E1, 25/10/2002)
"...Smart and easy on the eye..." (USA Today, p.15D, 25/10/2002)
DVD Description
Jonathan Demme's THE TRUTH ABOUT CHARLIE is a swirling romantic suspense thriller, a remake of the 1963 Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn vehicle, CHARADE. Set in Paris, the film stars Thandie Newton as a British ex-pat whose art dealer husband is murdered while she's on vacation. Arriving home, she is met with an empty apartment, the French police, and an array of mysterious thugs who believe she knows where her husband stashed six million stolen dollars. Mark Wahlberg plays the handsome, beret-sporting stranger who comes to her rescue, but who may not be what he seems. Special mention goes to Tim Robbins as a shadowy American agent, and Christine Boisson as the cool-as-nails police commandant trying to get to the bottom of the matter. Demme's direction pulls out all the stops here, with dizzying camerawork, experimental flash-forwards and insane editing. It's a return to the Oscar-winner's pre-SILENCE OF THE LAMBS days, when his specialty were cameo-studded, pop-infused romantic comedy thrillers like MARRIED TO THE MOB and SOMETHING WILD. This time the cameos celebrate the 1960's French New Wave cinema with appearances by crooner Charles Aznavour, director Agnes Varda, and--singing a mad tango--ex-Godard icon Anna Karina.
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