Review of Charlie Countryman (2013) by Panta O — 22 Jan 2014

This romantic film-noir action film directed by Fredrik Bond, written by Matt Drake, and starring Shia LaBeouf, Rupert Grint, Evan Rachel Wood, Mads Mikkelsen and Til Schweiger, was so difficult to score! It can go both ways - masterpiece or something to be forgotten very soon. The film premiered on January 21, 2013 at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and was screened in competition at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival, and probably everyone watching it had the same thinking - is this a future cult movie or insignificant piece of "so-called art"?

The story of Charlie Countryman (LaBeouf) started strange, but very engaging for the viewers. Not long after the death of his mother, who talks to him, the life of this normal guy spirals into a surreal world of Europe's back hole. He meets and falls in love with Gabi (Wood), a Romanian girl, after he sits next to her father on a air flight that resulted in his death. This romance has little chance to survive, because Gabi is married to Nigel (Mikkelsen), a violent and mentally unstable crime boss with a gang of thugs at his disposal. Armed with little more than his wit and naïve charm, Charlie endures one bruising beat-down after another to woo Gabi and keep her out of harm's way. Finally, his exploits of blind valour create such a mess that he's left with only one way out: to save the girl of his dreams, he has to die.

In the early development, Shia LaBeouf dropped out of the project and the title role was briefly given to Zac Efron before LaBeouf returned to the project in August 2010. I really want to know who was the genius who thought that LaBeouf could be replced by Zac Efron!? LaBeouf throw himself fully into this role, and that is the thing which is noticeable - no faking! LaBeouf reportedly tripped on acid while filming acid scenes. According to LaBeouf, he had to trip on the acid to really get into the head of his character and to emulate some of his acting heroes. This is how he explained,"There's a way to do an acid trip like Harold & Kumar and there's a way to be on acid. What I know of acting, Sean Penn actually strapped up to that electric chair in Dead Man Walking. These are the guys that I look up to.".

I recommend this film to all film lovers for the acid-laced feel of directing, extraordinary acting and very realistic presentation of what societies of law and order became in today's European Community! Especially the ones from the East. Of course, the screenplay can put you off sometimes with all this confusion, too many characters and the filming and camera work which are too dramatic to relax and enjoy fully every scene. Still, film worth watching!