Customer Reviews

The Truth About Charlie [VHS]

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(17)
1 star:		(31)

 

 

I think most of the previous reviewers are venting their displeasure at the excellent CHARADE being remade. Nothing could measure up to the original in their minds, and this one doesn't.

The DVD comes with CHARADE as well as the remake. The bonus is that the audio and video on CHARADE is vastly superior to the currently-available DVD (except perhaps the expensive Criterion edition), so those who love CHARADE may want to purchase Truth About Charlie just to get a terrific CHARADE ! !

By the way, it's a 2-sided disc with a movie on each side, not 2 discs. Three stars for Truth About Charlie and 5 for CHARADE - 4 stars overall.

While it doesn't have the same charm as Grant and Hepburn's "Charade", it does stand out in it's own right. Thandie Newton's character comes home one afternoon to find her house ransacked and her husband, Charlie, dead. The French Police, three assailants, an official from the OSD as well as a handsome love interest, charmingly played by Wahlberg, approach her looking for a valuable item which they believe her late husband left in her possession.

Overwhelmed by the onslaught of events and mysterious visitors popping up into her life, Newton becomes desparately confused over who she can trust. It is equally as confusing for the viewer when the name switches start happening more rapidly. Despite it all, the movie is very stylish with a great soundtrack. Newton and Wahlberg's chemistry works very well on screen.

Worth the watch.

So many complain that this film must be compared to a sickly sweet '60's original...no way!

Do you like Jean Reno? "The Truth About Charlie" is a film in his genre. Enjoy "The Transporter"?

Accept this as a wonderfully dynamic, visually stimulating film that stands on it's own. I was thoroughly enthralled, straining to catch every twist, and nuance. Particularly interested in how the film was not "dumbed down" for the American audience, example, scenes would often start for a sentence or two in French then casually transition to English. The "feeling" was there, and you knew, you just knew what they were saying....you "got it". You never lost the Euro feel and I loved the location filming in Paris.

The plot is completely unpredictable and you need to sit still right through the credits to get the full effect. Subtle humor, unusual (and well-done) camerawork, surrealistic appearances of French pop singers. This is a wonderful film.

Avoid watching it the first time if you have noisy kids, inattentive spouses or other distractions. You will not want to blink.

"The Truth About Charlie" is one for your collection.

I purchased this DVD from Amazon (a real bargain, "used-like-new" for less than five dollars, including shipping cost) to get a reasonably priced version of the original movie "Charade", filmed in 1963. Many DVD editions of "Charade" have been released, and to judge by the numerous reviews on this site, most of these previous releases have very poor video transfers to DVD.

The version of "Charade" presented on the flip side of "The Truth about Charlie" is, however, quite good--surprisingly good! "Charade", starring Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant, is presented here in a clean, anamorphic widescreen format, enhanced for 16x9 aspect-ratio, large-screen TVs. The colors are excellent, great skin tones, and the mono sound is fine, considering the age of the film. There is little (if any) graininess, even in the night scences (the blacks are very deep).

The Criterion Collection sells a very expensive, remastered version of "Charade" (I have not seen it)--but, in my opinion, there is very little room for additional enhancement of the version included here--especially considering the big price difference. "Charade" looks simply terrific on my large screen, high-defintion TV, played on my Toshiba HD DVD player (the "upconversion" helps). I eventually will watch "The Truth about Charlie"--but if you want an excellent version of "Charade"--this is the DVD to buy. Highly recommended!

The only sort of alright thing about this movie was Thandie Newton. But even she didn't do justice to Audrey Hepburn's Regina. And Mark Wahlberg just doesn't have the charm, poise, or presence that Cary Grant brings to the screen. Most of the best, witty, and funny dialogue between Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant was cut from this remake. The Truth About Charlie just doesn't have the heart or pacing that Charade had. I couldn't even watch the entire movie.

If you want to see a funny and witty mystery movie that keeps you on your toes see Charade. Skip The Truth about Charlie, its a waste of time!!

Where do I begin? Well for starters the poor dialog, the complete lack of any plausible plot line, and the absence of acting talent. This is by far the worst movie I have ever seen. It was a complete waste of time if I were able to give it demerits I would have DO NOT RENT, DO NOT PURCHASE, DO NOT EVEN BORROW IT FROM A FRIEND.

Appalling. It's not like there wasn't a formula for the makers of this pointless remake to follow, the original worked, it could have been updated, if not equalled.

Instead, Demme throws out everything that made the original great - romance, humor, suspense, intelligent pacing, all so he can make a movie that seems to parody mainstream genre films and acts as a self-satisfied exercise in "New Wave" mimicry.

Except the "New Wave" films were just that, new, they were doing something original. Demme's film seems an excuse for him to enjoy working in Paris, it certainly isn't coherent. Plot elements are raised, then forgotten, and what on earth is the crazy mother who murders people doing here, is this a comedy? By the maddening finale, the characters seem to have lost interest in the mystery, just as the audience has done by this point.

Obviously remaking a film with Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn, two of the greatest movie stars of all time, was going to be difficult, but why even bother when all you have to offer is Marky Mark and Thandie Newton. With George Clooney and Nicole Kidman, or others of that caliber, it might have been a good idea, the original works because of the star power and their chemistry. This poor enterprise was doomed from the start.

The definition of the pointless remake, makes Gus Van Sant's "Psycho" seem creative and original.

I couldn't wait to see this movie since it was a remake of one of my favorite movies. What a bust! It was hardly an adaptation and then boring to boot! Don't waste your time in renting or buying this movie.

I was in a record store looking at the used DVD's they had for sale and I saw this DVD and the price was very reasonable especially for one of the bonus features which is an anamorphic widescreen version of Charade that has good picture quality and is on the other side of this Truth about Charlie DVD. The Truth about Charlie is okay and the acting from Thandie Newton, Mark Wahlberg, and Tim Robbins is good but the plot which has it's okay moments is kind of uneven and rushed and of course is nowhere near as good as Charade which is a fantastic movie but it was so worth buying this DVD just to get a nice copy of that gem! Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant are wonderful and charming and Walter Matthau was also very good and so were James Coburn and George Kennedy who were the best of the villains. I was going to buy the Criterion Widescreen Charade DVD but it went out of print and the last time I was looking to buy it used the lowest price was 50 dollars so I bought this used Truth About Charlie/Charade DVD instead and the 5 stars is for Charade while if I was just rating The Truth About Charlie I would give it 3 stars for the good acting from Thandie Newton, Mark Wahlberg and Tim Robbins but I wouldn't rate it more then 3 stars because of the uneven plot. After I bought this DVD I found out that Criterion had made a new anamorphic Widescreen DVD for Charade and I would have bought it but Criterion DVD's are too expensive! BTW: the Paris location scenes in both movies are wonderful!

My husband and I just watched this movie yesterday and both agreed that it was terrible. I have seen (and loved) Charade previously, but he had not and we both did not like the movie for the following reasons:

1. The Chemistry between Walberg and Newton was non-existent. You kept asking yourself during the movie, why do they like each other, and why do I care what happens to them.

2. The constant close-ups on people's faces was annoying.

3. Charlie's crazy mother was a bizarre addition that was not entertaining.

4. The plot dragged along and seemed to go nowhere. There was no suspense. Tim Robbins appeared to be suspicious and guilty the entire time. And when they all go out dancing together, you wonder why Newton is scared of any of them.

I could go on, but those were the main reasons we didn't enjoy the movie. Watch Charade instead!