Review of Charlie Countryman (2013) by Nathan G — 07 May 2014

This is tough.

I want to give it a two.

And I want to give it a three.

But if it were made by an experienced filmmaker, I'd give it a one.

I want to give it a two because of:

The awful Evan Rachel fake accent.

The dreadful Evan Rachel Wood performance.

The heavy-handedness of certain aspects.

The lazy, confusing, film student editing.

The many pointless scenes and characters that are often simultaneously random.

The overabundance of music numbers.

The unbalance of tone and style and genre and what to focus on.

I want to give it a three because of:

The general premise and story.

The half of music numbers that actually work.

The Shia Labeouf performance.

The multiple touching and other effective moments.

The possible ambiguity of its ending.

I know it seems obvious I should give it The Necessary Death Of Charlie Countryman a two due to there be almost twice the number of reasons than why I should give it a three, but I'm generally very lenient towards debut films. Especially from somebody like Fredrik Bond who has had about zero experience whatsoever prior to making this film. And the reasons listed for giving it a three, the film does extremely well. Relatively speaking. But having said that, he doesn't seem like the only amateur filmmaker here. It feels as if everybody involved, other than the cast, is putting together their first film. And in a way, it feels like their also putting together their last.

This film isn't terrible. But it isn't terrific either. I wouldn't encourage you to see it and I wouldn't encourage you not to see it. Basically, if you were to tell me you were about to watch it, I wouldn't try to stop you.

It all boils down to this, really: I can't give you just one reason NOT to watch it but I can give you just one reason TO watch it. And that's for Shia LaBeouf.

I don't know about you but I really think he's a very misunderstood actor. No matter what project he's involved in, even if it's mindless action schlock like the Transformer series or a cliche thriller film based on a Rihanna song, you can't deny he gives it his 100% and I believe him every time. With his work in The Necessary Death Of Charlie Countryman, that's no exception and it's by far his best performance to date.

I'm willing to admit any time I see Shia sad or upset or whatever (even when I read or hear about him getting so), I get sad or upset or whatever. My heart sinks when I see his eyes shimmer with tears and those eyebrows bend to brokenness. I really want this guy to keep acting. I have faith he can blow everybody's mind and crush everybody's hearts with his talent one day. You just wait.

Since I'm undecided between the two and three, I have no other choice but to give The Necessary Death Of Charlie Countryman two-and-a-half mangos out of four.