Thandie Newton seeks ‘The Truth’ in classic remake
By Taylor Gibbons
Skiff Staff

Director Jonathan Demme describes his new film “The Truth About Charlie” as a “mystery/thriller with an active sense of humor,” which is about as close as you can get to capturing the essence of this movie in one breath.

“The Truth About Charlie” is a frothy, flighty, sexy and scatter-brained take on the modern action thriller. A latter-day update of the 1963 classic “Charade,” “The Truth About Charlie” starts out looking like a murder mystery, but by the end of its run makes a case for itself as a spy thriller, a romantic comedy, and even at times a slapstick farce.

Set this all against the backdrop of Paris, as realized in the style of the French New Wave, and you have a film that depending on your mood can engage or you leave you cold. But this thankfully never allows its considerable style to triumph over its substance.

“The Truth About Charlie” tells the story of Regina Lambert (Thandie Newton), a woman who returns home from vacation to find her oft-times absentee husband Charlie now permanently removed from their sprawling Paris apartment. Almost all of the now former couple’s worldly possessions are gone as well. Foul play seems evident, but the exact nature and motivations of the crime are elusive. Charlie, it seems, died rich — but a lot of it wasn’t his.

Almost immediately, Regina is knee deep in mysterious characters, all of whom have come out of the woodwork to help settle Charlie’s considerable estate, whether she likes it or not.

There’s the U.S. government stuffed-shirt Mr. Bartholomew (Tim Robbins) who insists on Regina’s help in recovering her late husband’s fortune for the U.S. government to which he claims it rightfully belongs.

Then there’s the trifecta of mysterious militants (Joong-Hoon Park, Ted Levine, Lisa Gay Hamilton), three shady characters from Charlie’s past who want his fortune just as much as Mr. Bartholomew, but who are willing to go much further than him to get it.

Finally, there’s Joshua Peters, the fallen-from-the-sky love interest who seems just a little too naive, a little too friendly, and overall, just a little too convenient.

The only one besides Regina not playing game is Commandant Dominique (Christine Boisson) of the French police, and she considers Regina a suspect in Charlie’s murder. The movie from there on out is a crazy quilt of shifting alliances, quick-cut action sequences, and even a little earnest romance. Before all is said and done, friends have become enemies, enemies have become friends, and a few people are dead.

The cast of this movie performs with satisfactory if uneven aplomb. Everyone rises to the bar, but some surpass it better than others. Mark “-y Mark” Wahlberg is no Carey Grant, but few people are. Still, I wonder how many times he can play variations of the same nice guy role before audiences start getting wise.

Thandie Newton is a pleasure as Regina Lambert, playing a quirky, complicated woman anchored in her current crisis by a surprisingly strong moral center.

Tim Robbins’ turn as the wooden Mr. Bartholomew serves as further proof of his substantial acting chops, and as the movie goes on we see Robbins transform from a wryly comical g-man into something else entirely.

We don’t see a lot of emotion from Joong-Hoon Park as Il-Sang Lee or Lisa Gay Hamilton as Lola Jansco beyond the old standards of cold and calculating, but Ted Levine as Emil Zatapec, the third member of their wayward trio, is something else entirely. He plays an imbalanced, unhealthy man whose personality fluctuates about as much as his heart rate, and succeeds quite well in bringing some acrid flavor to the role. Also notable is Christine Boisson, who plays the strong-willed but perhaps somewhat under-developed Commandant Dominique.

“The Truth About Charlie” could maybe best be described as a strange brew. It doesn’t know if it wants to be an action movie, a dramady or a music video. Its uncommon blending of elements can be enticing to some viewers and off-putting to others. Like any movie that takes risks, “The Truth About Charlie” sometimes makes a misstep or simply flies a ride a little too high and fast on its ever-propagating wave of plot twists and cultural atmosphere.

Ultimately, however, “The Truth About Charlie” is just the sort of breezy, original film its creators intended it to be. And that’s the truth.

Taylor Gibbons