Muddled "Truth" Yields Disappointing Consequences by Homer Yen (c) 2002
Watching a film like "The Truth about Charlie" is like watching a big-production performance where there's much to admire, but in the end, there's just too much fluff and not nearly enough stuff. If anyone has ever seen the Sigfried and Roy magic show in Las Vegas, you might be able to relate. There are lots of white tigers, smoke, and flame. However, the magic kind of gets lost in the shuffle.
That happens in this offering. Yet, that's not to say that this isn't a well-made film. It's very watchable thanks to the free-flowing performance of Thandie Newton, who combines a damsel-in-distress element along with the looking-for-love-in-gay-Paree element. And the camera work and the cinematography will beg you to place this romantic destination at the top of your Places to Visit list.
The first 20 minutes of the film has a peppy life of its own. This playful attitude is created through the comic style fonts of the opening credits and the way-cool musical soundtrack. This features swinging orchestrations that make you want to snap your fingers to the beat, passages that make you want to swivel and tango, and drumbeats that evoke the Rumba. It's the music you'd want to listen to at hip espresso bars or at a house party where wine and laughter fills your soul.
The quick edits, swirling camera work, and slow-motion/fast-motion cuts give the film added style. Meanwhile, the French-spoken dialogue, the atmosphere, and the Parisian backdrop gives the film additional flair. There is one especially well-constructed scene where all of the major characters gather on the dance floor to tango. And, as the emcee says, "change," everyone switches partners on the fly, and in doing so, find a rare opportunity to exchange individual secrets and concerns. Yes, the panache factor is high.
But when the music stops and the people begin to talk, the fantasy melts away into a marginally interesting story. We are introduced to Joshua (Mark Wahlberg), a seemingly helpful vacationer who encounters Regina (Thandie Newton), a recently widowed Parisian. She soon finds herself embroiled in a mystery involving $6 million in stolen jewels. In addition, there are several others that emerge as part of this adventure, including an interested government agent (Tim Robbins) and an unsavory trio who are looking for the jewels as well.
Part of the film's weakness is Mark Wahlberg's performance. He seemed like an odd choice to shoulder this role. He is a bit too stiff for this international-man-of-mystery part. The film needed someone with more charisma and who could appear equally sincere and manipulative. Wahlberg doesn't really have these qualities; he is better suited for working class roles, which were the types of roles that brought him into the Hollywood limelight.
Meanwhile, the story is light on plot and too heavy on hidden identities, double-crosses, and lots of running around. There is so much activity going on that by the time the film moves into its final few scenes, it becomes increasingly difficult to follow who's who and who's on who's side. And the closing sequence, in which the movie takes great care in shifting the pieces around to finally get us there, ends much too abruptly. I'd hate to say that I didn't like it because in some ways, I did. Yet, I can't say that I would recommend it because in several ways, I really can't. This movie should have been better.
Grade: C+
S: 1 out of 3 L: 1 out of 3 V: 1 out of 3
========== X-RAMR-ID: 33252 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 805687 X-RT-TitleID: 1117312 X-RT-AuthorID: 1370 X-RT-RatingText: C+
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews