The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman
Nov. 4th, 2014 12:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
redfiona99I can see why they shortened the title in all the UK ads to Charlie Countryman (or, more accurately, 'the necessary death of' in writing too tiny to read, Charlie Countryman in readable writing).
As you might have gathered from the title, it's a little bit too arty for it's own good.
Shia LaBeouf was actually good in this. I totally originally went to watch it for Mads Mikkelsen and Til Schweiger, who were excellent in their roles (needless to say) but yes, must repeat that there was entirely unexpected excellence from LaBeouf.
The soundtrack was also excellent.
Things I liked - while Nigel was obviously a very bad person, they didn't pretend that he didn't love Gabi just as much as Charlie. As the film put it, "bad love is still bad." The blood pool in the shape of a heart was a very nice touch, because yes, Nigel died for love just as much as Charlie would have done.
Those Brits are why me and my Mum automatically switch to being Austrian when we're abroad.
I presume Darko got away scot-free at the end because that's what people like him do.
Much though I refuse to believe there isn't one Romanian actress who could have played her just as well, Evan Rachel Wood is very good as Gabi. She manages to sell the part of someone who used to be naive and unworldly but then got dragged to Earth with a bump very well. And the explanation of why she fell for Nigel is perfect for the character, because yes, someone like that would fall head over heels for someone who said her music saved his life. Also, the directing is amazing in that bit.
I greatly suspect the writer of the film is American because 1) Nigel is the least threatening name ever (and between that and how some of the dialogue was structured, I suspect Mads Mikkelsen was a replacement for someone else who was probably English in that role) and 2) no-one on the planet has ever actually made the Bucharest/Budapest mistake.
I love Bela and his desperate and perpetually grumpy attempts to fix everything. I loved that everyone who wasn't Darko and Nigel (or Darko's minions and even then ...) was just trying to get by and was mostly helpful and tried to save Charlie from what was happening. It was nice.
Given the title and what I'd been lead to believe, I was very happy to see Charlie survive, which is a sign that the film worked, I think.
Not the film I expected from the trailer and from what other people said about it, but worth watching.
As you might have gathered from the title, it's a little bit too arty for it's own good.
Shia LaBeouf was actually good in this. I totally originally went to watch it for Mads Mikkelsen and Til Schweiger, who were excellent in their roles (needless to say) but yes, must repeat that there was entirely unexpected excellence from LaBeouf.
The soundtrack was also excellent.
Things I liked - while Nigel was obviously a very bad person, they didn't pretend that he didn't love Gabi just as much as Charlie. As the film put it, "bad love is still bad." The blood pool in the shape of a heart was a very nice touch, because yes, Nigel died for love just as much as Charlie would have done.
Those Brits are why me and my Mum automatically switch to being Austrian when we're abroad.
I presume Darko got away scot-free at the end because that's what people like him do.
Much though I refuse to believe there isn't one Romanian actress who could have played her just as well, Evan Rachel Wood is very good as Gabi. She manages to sell the part of someone who used to be naive and unworldly but then got dragged to Earth with a bump very well. And the explanation of why she fell for Nigel is perfect for the character, because yes, someone like that would fall head over heels for someone who said her music saved his life. Also, the directing is amazing in that bit.
I greatly suspect the writer of the film is American because 1) Nigel is the least threatening name ever (and between that and how some of the dialogue was structured, I suspect Mads Mikkelsen was a replacement for someone else who was probably English in that role) and 2) no-one on the planet has ever actually made the Bucharest/Budapest mistake.
I love Bela and his desperate and perpetually grumpy attempts to fix everything. I loved that everyone who wasn't Darko and Nigel (or Darko's minions and even then ...) was just trying to get by and was mostly helpful and tried to save Charlie from what was happening. It was nice.
Given the title and what I'd been lead to believe, I was very happy to see Charlie survive, which is a sign that the film worked, I think.
Not the film I expected from the trailer and from what other people said about it, but worth watching.
