Charlie Countryman (2013)

While travelling abroad, a guy falls for a Romanian beauty whose unreachable heart has its origins in her violent, charismatic ex.

Director:

Fredrik Bond

Writer:

Matt Drake

Stars:

Shia LaBeouf, Evan Rachel Wood, Mads Mikkelsen

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Shia LaBeouf	...	Charlie Countryman
Evan Rachel Wood	...	Gabi Ibanescu
Mads Mikkelsen	...	Nigel
Til Schweiger	...	Darko
Rupert Grint	...	Karl
James Buckley	...	Luc
Ion Caramitru	...	Victor Ibanescu
Vincent D'Onofrio	...	Bill
Melissa Leo	...	Kate
Andrei Finti	...	Bela
Aubrey Plaza	...	Ashley
Lachlan Nieboer	...	Ted
Vanessa Kirby	...	Felicity
Gabriel Spahiu	...	Taxi Driver
Bogdan Farkas	...	Hostel Clerk (as Bodgan Farcas)

Storyline

While travelling abroad, a guy falls for a Romanian beauty whose unreachable heart has its origins in her violent, charismatic ex.

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Plot Keywords:

sitting next to a dead body on an airplane | erection | male name in title | male objectification | pubic hair | 

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Taglines:

The only way to save the one you love, is to die

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some brutal violence, language throughout, sexuality/nudity, and drug use.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA Romania

Language:

English Romanian

Release Date:

13 September 2013 (Norway)

Also Known As:

Charlie Countryman

Filming Locations:

Bucharest, Romania

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$7,973, 15 November 2013, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$7,973, 15 November 2013

Company Credits

Production Co:

MediaPro Pictures, Media Pro, Bona Fide Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sir John Hurt and Shia LaBeouf appeared in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) and New York, I Love You (2008).

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Goofs

As Gabi is explaining how she met Nigel, Charlie is wearing a dark sport coat. By the time she is done, Charlie is no longer wearing the coat.

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Quotes

Gabi Ibanescu: Nigel was my husband.
Nigel: I beg your pardon, Gabi, did you say was? Honestly, fucking was? No, Charlie, not fucking was. Fucking is. Fucking meaning I currently fucking am 'til death do us fucking part.

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Connections

References The Sixth Sense (1999)

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Soundtracks

Intro
Written by Anthony Gonzalez, Yann Gonzalez, Morgan Kibby, Justin Meldal-
Johnsen
Performed by M83
Courtesy of Mute Records Ltd.
By arrangement with Bank Robber Music

User Reviews

The Sincere and Stylish efforts of a Plagiarist!

The things we do for love. People end up doing the dumbest things when in love, its a known fact. Love is blind, they say and 'they' are true, most of the time if not all. Charlie Countryman is the story of Charlie played by Shia LaBeuof in a similar scenario. The director Fredrick Bond's debut movie, Charlie Countryman stands out in terms of visual flair and style.

Shia LaBeuof, surprisingly shows off his astounding acting skills here. He's come a long way from his Witwicky days and it shows. Charlie was a splendid role Shia was put into, quirky and goofy still, but way better than his earlier works. I'd say he displays a much more mature performance here. And it remains to see how well he'll perform in Lars Von Triers' erotic epic Nymphomaniac. It was hard to take eyes off Evan Rachel Wood who was inexplicably gorgeous as Gabi. Except when she talked in a odd Romanian accent, when half of the charm jumped off a cliff. It was hard to believe Charlie and Gabi could fall in love in such a short time. I can infer Charlie's feelings for her, being as naive as he was but Gabi, having gone through a fair chunk of regretful past, it just felt weird that she got smitten by him; nonetheless it worked wonders when they were on screen together. Mads Mikkelsen plays the psychopath thug Nigel and couldn't be more insane and intimidating.

The movie has a weak storyline and a weaker screenplay, but those are forgettable when the movie looks this gorgeous. I never thought Romania would be this alive. Fredrick, having directed music videos, knows how to take the shots beautifully and stylishly. The scenes were smeared with subtle color tones which made it feel like it was both warm and cold. And I said the story was only weak but it does keep things intriguing till end. Especially Charlie's ability or delusion to talk to the dead was a zany mechanic that kept the story moving.

An immense influence of music can be seen throughout the movie. Once again, Fredrick's experience with music videos comes into play making the movie's soundtrack enlivened with tracks from Moby, The XX and M83. Christophe Beck's score was also soothing to the ear.

Charlie Countryman might not be everybody's cup of tea but it was purely a sensory enrapturing experience for me. It has got comedy, action, drama and most of all romance, and it might have been more, had it got an NC-17 rating for its oral sex scene which was cut by MPAA so as to get it rated R. It might not be a worthy contender or come listed in this years best movies, but do give it a chance, have a walk in Romania with Charlie Countryman and fall in love with Gabi.