Sunday, October 27, 2002

The Truth About Charlie (IMDB) (Netflix)
A Jonathan Demme remake of the 1963 Grant/Hepburn (Cary/Audrey) vehicle Charade, with the two lead roles going to Mark Wahlberg and Thandie Newton. Newton's cad of a husband, Charlie, gets done in, and Wahlberg runs into Newton suspiciously often all over a very rainy Paris while some bad guys (and a gal), an American government official (Tim Robbins) and an aggressive police detective (Christine Boisson) each manipulate her for their own ends. What's a widow to do, and who's she going to trust?

Demme brings an energy and style to the film that I suspect the successful original didn't have, and the score/soundtrack nicely supports that sensibility, but Marky Mark's no Cary Grant (some vocal cord stretching might help bring his voice into adulthood) and the relationship between him and Newton generates less heat than the autumnal Parisien skies. On balance, watchable, but a good rental alternative would be The Thomas Crown Affair remake with Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo.