“The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman”

If this title intrigues you then stop right now. Don’t google the movie, don’t watch the trailer, and definitely don’t read the reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. I am going to do the best I can at barely touching the surface for this film because I find it incredible. I’ve since imparted it on two friends of mine and they both loved it, though they also went it with little to no knowledge of the premise. So with all of the warnings out of the way, let’s jump in.

I’ve never been a hater for Shia, and I know he gets a pretty bad rep for the “Transformers” films and definitely for “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”, but like most sane people I just pretend that movie never happened. Therefore when I first heard of “Charlie Countryman” I was intrigued; it had some recognizable names and seemed like an interesting story based on the one line synopsis I read. I gradually forgot about it until recently when I picked up the Blu Ray off eBay. My roommate and I sat down to watch it one night and besides the previous knowledge I had (which I summed up two sentences before this), my roommate had none so we just figured “why not”. Easily one of the best decisions I made during the month of February.

I’m going to try my best to give you a plot outline without really giving you anything to go on, if that makes sense. Remember, this is about all I had and I still wanted to see it, so hopefully you’ll feel the same way. Shia LaBeouf is the titular Charlie Countryman who decides to travel to Bucharest on a whim. Through an unfortunate series of events he meets a girl, and he understands that he needs to take the leap.

Yeah, that’s all you get. I don’t want to tell more because then you’ll pull out the microscope and things will get nasty. Yes it gets a little disjointed at times, yes it may have a plot hole or two, but you just have to jump in, much like Charlie. The journey we as an audience go on is one of just letting go of preconceived notions, and instead of looking back for the rest of your life wondering “what could have been”, that we should have at least one of those moments where we decide to “do”. Charlie’s adventures are crazy, dangerous, sexy, fun, and just about every emotion you could possibly go, and the ride is totally worth it. The way I told my friend about the film was by relating it to “Drive”, another film that leaves you thinking about it way past the disc being ejected. He sat down to watch it on this recommendation and liked it so much that he watched it again the next night with his girlfriend. I urge you to give it a shot, look past your dislike for Shia (because it’s got other people in it, like Mads Mikkelsen, Evan Rachel Wood, and Rupert Grint in a very NON “Harry Potter” role…that should be enough to give it a view) and just try it. I promise you will be happily surprised, and if you are…please spread the word.

And if you still aren’t hooked, Shia reportedly tripped on acid for the scene where he…trips on acid. Legit.

Oh and one final thing. This blog came about because I was mentally “collecting scenes” from movies. You could watch an entire film and feel pretty good about it but if the last scene sucks, or the music’s off, or something just doesn’t click how it should, your reaction will turn into “Meh” whenever you’re asked about it. “Charlie Countryman” was way above any sort of bad feelings by the end, but in case it ever needed the extra push the ending scene has a defining moment where a song by M83 comes blasting through the speakers at the most perfect time, and I couldn’t help but smile. Consider that scene “collected”.

DIRECTOR’S CUT: Please pass this film along, it has some pretty sad ratings on Rotten Tomatoes and elsewhere, and even if Shia has decided that he’s no longer famous, this film needs some love. At the very least you’ll have a new outlook on taking that leap.

FLICKCHART RATING: 262/2099

“Lawless” – When the law became corrupt, outlaws became heroes.

Three British actors, two American actors, and an Australian actress headline this film about prohibition in Virginia during the early 1930’s. Goes to show that talent spreads far and wide in the industry. It’s also about bootlegging and dealing with the blowback from the authorities, and dagnabbit I thought it was pretty darn good.

First thing that I noticed was how big Tom Hardy was in the film. Then I realized that it was due to “The Dark Knight Rises” being filmed right before “Lawless”, so he was coming down off his muscle high. His role as Forrest Bondurant of the Bondurant Brothers was outstanding in my opinion. I didn’t have any previous knowledge of their reign over the moonshine racket, and I can’t say that I’m a source of it now but I definitely got the feeling of what it was like to make the white lightning during that era. Working alongside Hardy were fellow kin Shia LaBeouf as Jack Bondurant, and Jason Clarke as Howard Bondurant. The movie opens with Jack’s narration about how they seem to be “invincible”, walking away from deadly situations several times throughout their lives. Probably why it seemed like a good idea to make moonshine. It takes place during 1931 which is right in the heart of Prohibition, but it’s in Franklin County, Virginia and everyone, even the cops, are buying the stuff. I’d like to give a big thank you to those keeping the booze flowing when times were tough.

So once we get past the rough-and-toughness of the brothers, we’re introduced to Gary Oldman’s character, Floyd Banner. He’s a bootlegger out of Chicago who just doesn’t give a guff and will stop at nothing to keep his business afloat. Sadly his screen time is sufficiently small and his use in the trailer may be a bit…exaggerated. It’s ok, I kept watching. Shortly after Banner enters we get to meet Maggie Beauford, portrayed by Jessica Chastain. Right off the bat you can tell that she’s some sort of love interest to Forrest but also the brother’s gas station attendant (in the movie the station is mostly used as a coffee house and bar, so don’t get the wrong idea.) Finally, my favorite: Guy Pearce. The last movie I saw with him in it was “Lockout” and before that, “Prometheus”. In the former he’s a tough-as-nails ex-military type sent into space to retrieve the President’s daughter (read my review about it here), and in the latter a creepy old guy running Weyland Industries (read my review about creepy old man Pearce here). Now, take both of those and combine them, lose a little muscle mass, add some pomade and a slick Italian suit, and you’ve got Charlie Rakes, the Chicago Special Deputy brought in to take down the local bootleggers. As a reviewer of films I feel it’s fair to point out when certain ones do not get the marketing they deserve. “Lawless” is definitely one of those movies, especially with the cast it has, but also because of Guy Pearce’s performance as Rakes. If I had a “Top 100 Villains” list he would definitely be on it. He is ruthless, cunning, evil, and downright creepy. I have a lot of admiration for Pearce as this is now the third film he’s in that I’ve reviewed, and I hope that many more are to come. That being said if making illegal booze, a gruffed up Tom Hardy, and a super sexy Jessica Chastain aren’t enough to make you interested in this film, please let Guy Pearce be the reason you are.

Pretty sure Moses parted that thing.

As the film progresses things obviously get harder for the brothers as the law continues to crack down, and Jack (LaBeouf) being the youngest gets his head full of the local preacher’s daughter, Bertha Minnix (Mia Wasikowska)…seriously? Bertha? The film comes in at just shy of two hours but I really enjoyed every minute of it, and felt a bit of jealousy that I didn’t have my own still to hide from the police. I’ve rarely had a very “patriotic” feel about anything, but for once I felt proud to be from Virginia.

DIRECTOR’S CUT: A movie that has kind of gone unnoticed since it’s release in August but I urge you to give it a look. It may be a Hollywood-ized retelling of some of our nation’s history, but not enough to ruin the story. Plus for those of you who don’t want to watch it because of Shia’s involvement, he spends the majority of the film getting his butt kicked. So there’s that. Oh, and Jessica Chastain is smokin’.

FLICKCHART RATING: 213/1961