Director: Fredrik Bond
Cast: Shia LaBeouf, Evan Rachel Wood, Mads Mikkelsen, Vincent D’Onofrio, Melissa Leo, Rupert Grint
Certificate: 15
Run Time: 103 minutes
Synopsis: A young man embarks on a trip of self-discovery and love with a deadly twist when he falls for a troubled Romanian beauty.
Have you ever volunteered a response to a raised question and then wished you had just kept quiet and drank your coffee instead? What about suffering a complete mental blank with no hope of a quick recovery? Apparently I haven’t learned from the former nor recovered from the latter after seeing Fredrik Bond’s debut film CHARLIE COUNTRYMAN.
Emboldened by the sixth sense encounter with his recently deceased mother Katie (Melissa Leo) to visit Bucharest, lost soul Charlie Countryman (Shia LaBeouf) embarks on a trip of self-discovery after meeting Romanian taxi driver Victor (Ion Caramitru) mid-flight. Touched by the Grim Reaper before returning home to daughter Gabi (Evan Rachel Wood), Victor instructs Charlie to seek out Gabi and hand her the crazy hat he purchased for her in Chicago. With his improbable encounters and love-at-first-sight with a deadly twist romance with the tortured soul Gabi, Charlie begins to spiral out of control amidst a bevy of interesting characters including pill pusher Luc (James Buckley), wannabe porn star Karl (Rupert Grint), and local gangsters Nigel (Mads Mikkelsen) and Darko (Til Schweiger).
Despite the modes of discourse’s vacuity, the score is exquisite. From the pianissimo of piano keys to the haunting sounds of Roma music and Moby electronica, it is wonderful to hear Christophe Beck and DeadMono get it right when everything else is so very wrong.
Overall, I found the film to be just okay and not worth the price of admission although, I can see it’s appeal with selective audiences. Having said that, dropping THE NECESSARY DEATH from the original film title kind of implies it all really.
CHARLIE COUNTRYMAN is out in cinemas today.
(2 / 5)
Apart from being the worst and most unfollowed tweeter on Twitter, Sacha loves all things film and music. With a passion for unearthing the hidden gems on the Festival trail from London and New York to her home in the land Down Under, Sacha’s favourite films include One Flew Over The Cuckoo Nest, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Fight Club, Autism in Love and Theeb. You can also make her feel better by following her @TheSachaHall.
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