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The Truth About Charlie [DVD] [2003]
 
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The Truth About Charlie [DVD] [2003]

DVD ~ Mark Wahlberg
2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
RRP: £17.99
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Product details

  • Actors: Mark Wahlberg, Thandie Newton, Tim Robbins, Olga Sékulic, Stephen Dillane
  • Directors: Jonathan Demme
  • Writers: Jonathan Demme, Jessica Bendinger, Peter Stone, Steve Schmidt
  • Producers: Jonathan Demme, Edward Saxon, Ilona Herzberg
  • Format: Anamorphic, PAL
  • Language English
  • Subtitles: English, German, French, Czech, Hungarian, Greek, Polish
  • Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Classification: 12
  • Studio: Universal Pictures UK
  • DVD Release Date: 29 Sep 2003
  • Run Time: 99 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B0000A12H3
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 46,821 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

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Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review

It seems blasphemous to remake Stanley Donen's classic romantic thriller Charade, but The Truth About Charlie achieves 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. Charade it's not, but that's not necessarily a complaint. --Jeff Shannon


Synopsis

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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3 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
2.7 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars "The Truth About The Truth About Charlie.", 24 Dec 2003
Before this film even started, it already had two strikes against it in my book. You see, "Charade" - the film of which "The Truth About Charlie" is a re-make of - is one of my all-time favorite films. Thus, when I first heard it was being re-made, I thought that idea was insane. Why mess with near-perfection? "Charade" still holds up very well after forty years and no present-day actor and actress pairing could ever re-create the magic Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn brought to the original. Director Jonathan Demme sure had guts to take on this project. If he desecrated the memory of "Charade" then its legions of fans would surely let him know about it. Well, after finally viewing the re-make with as much of an open mind as possible, I can say that the film is not the total disaster I feared it might be, but, despite good stabs by Mark Wahlberg and Thandie Newton, "The Truth About Charlie" is significantly inferior to "Charade."

Newlywed Regina Lambert (Newton) returns to Paris to find her apartment abandoned and looted. Matters become worse when the police soon inform her that husband has been murdered. After Regina is shown one passport after another of her dead husband, each with a different identity, she immediately realizes Charlie was not exactly what he seemed. One crucial clue to unraveling the truth about her husband comes to her when a government official played by Tim Robbins tells her that mysterious strangers would soon be stalking her . . . . because her husband had stolen six million dollars. Thankfully, a knight in shining armor by the name of Joshua Peters (Wahlberg) shows up to help Reggie. Or is he only after the money too?

"Charade" worked because of three reasons: (1) its clever story was a delight to unravel as one charade after another was exposed to reveal the true intentions of all its characters, (2) Grant and Hepburn were perfectly matched and fed off each other's screen charisma, and (3) director Stanley Donen delivered a crisp and breezy film that managed to never confuse its audience while still keeping all of its complex elements intact. "The Truth About Charlie" fails to deliver in all three respects. Demme tweaked his version of the story to prevent it from being a straight re-make of the original. However, these new twists - while interesting at times - do not improve matters. While "Charade" assembled all of the pieces of the puzzle in a neat manner at its conclusion, "The Truth About Charlie" concludes in a mess (and an unnecessary epilogue only works to complicate matters further). Wahlberg and Newton do the best they can but there's not much spark between them. Separately, Newton is very good in creating a character who is scared, angry, clever, and charming at the same time and Wahlberg makes some amends for his "Planet of the Apes" debacle, but sadly neither of them can elevate the film. Finally, Jonathan Demme is no Stanley Donen, plain and simple.

If you are purchasing the DVD, then the good news is that the original "Charade" is included on the DVD and the print of it is of very good quality compared to the many public domain copies in circulation. If anything, the release of "The Truth About Charlie" can be considered a good thing for bringing "Charade" to the attention of a new generation of film watchers. There are times when new is not better than old and one need only look at both "Charade" and "The Truth About Charlie" to see such an example of this point.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Buy if you like Charade, 15 Jan 2008
By Brian Carson (London UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
Is ' The Truth About Charlie ' Worth buying ?

If its the Region 2 version I am not sure but if you get your hands on the Region 1 version then without a doubt its a Bargain.

Everything below relates to the Region 1 version as I know for a fact that you get a extra special Bonus.

It contains a ' excellent ' widescreen version { 1.85:1 aspect ratio } of ' Charade ' that has been digitally remastered.

Yes I know this may appear to be a ' back to front ' way of getting a decent copy of Charade but you will be over the moon as to how good the quality is.

By the way the reason why there is so many bad quality versions is because Charade is now in the public domain due to a legal irregularity - no claim of copyright was put into the original prints hence why anyone can release it even although the quality is sub standard.

It was driving me Nuts as there has to be thirty different versions of Charade and I just don't have the money buying my way though them until I found a decent version.

Anyway my hunt is over - I would have paid a lot more just for Charade alone.

As to how good or bad The Truth About Charlie is really depends on how you come at it.

If you think its going to be a patch on the original film then forget it - No one will every be able to make it better.

Far better not to try and compare it.

Public warning - before viewing The Truth About Charlie go and buy some Motion Sickness Pills as you will need them - the Cameraman swirls the camera about so much that I caught my self shouting at the screen - Stop moving the Camera.

It really irritates me as there is no need for it - he swirls about so much that I had to speed it on.

The nano second editing will also drive you up the wall - your eyes don't have time to focus on the one subject before it cuts away and repeats itself.

The Truth About Charlie could have been a great film if it was not for the editing and the spaced out Cameraman but of course I did not buy the dvd for that film I bought it for the flip side and Charade is a Classic so really in my eyes The Truth About Charlie is the extra bonus.

I have hunted about and I cant find any concrete proof that the Region 2 version is identical to the region 1 version so really why gamble - splash out on the region 1 and you never know you may get around to watching The Truth About Charlie In actual fact watch that side first and then flip over for a wonderful treat
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1.0 out of 5 stars embarrassed, 2 Aug 2008
I feel so bad for buying this DVD. I loved the original Charade with my favourite actor Cary Grant starring and had stumbled upon this by accident. I wish I never had now.The film is poorly cast, the plot is followed almost identically but in a more negative and boring fashion and non of the actors fit the parts they are playing. I have no idea why Thandie Newton was cast as Mrs Lambert and even less of a comprehension as to why Mark Wahlberg was in the film at all. Neither actor did the character's justice and it was horrible to see one of my favourite films mutilated by this version. Presumably the film was remade because the film industry couldn't come up with any new ideas so they are now simply recycling brilliant classic films and modernising them in a laughable, tedious way? If you value old films like I do, and indeed any film fan should, then you will save yourself an awful evening and pick a good film instead.
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