Shia LaBeouf‘s career has been a hotbed for debate with fans who either love, hate, or tolerate his performances. I like the guy enough that he doesn’t turn me off from watching the movies he appears in. I respect his willingness to try multiple avenues of creativity with his role choices and CHARLIE COUNTRYMAN looks right up that alley.
The movie has dropped the old title of THE NECESSARY DEATH OF CHARLIE COUNTRYMAN, which may have been a spoiler, and just kept Shia’s character as the name of the movie. What follows in the trailer is a mix of surreal imagery, romance, and violence. I was immediately reminded of Danny Boyle‘s early works SHALLOW GRAVE and TRAINSPOTTING. Director Fredrik Bond, a veteran of commercials, brings a nice visual style to the movie that also stars Rupert Grint, Evan Rachel Wood, and Mads Mikkelsen.
When his late mother appears in a vision and tells him to go to Bucharest, Charlie immediately boards a plane across the Atlantic. But when he meets a fellow passenger, Charlie finds himself with another promise to fulfill. Charlie does so – and falls head over heels in love with Gabi, a beautiful musician. However, a vicious gangster has already laid claim to Gabi, and has no intention of letting her go. Determined to protect her, Charlie enters into the hallucinatory, Romanian underworld filled with violence and, strangely enough, love.
Even though our very own Chris Bumbray gave the movie a mediocre review, I am definitely looking forward to checking this one out. I still have confidence that Shia LaBeouf can win over those who dislike him. As long as he stays away from TRANSFORMERS and turns in performances like this, the fans will come.
CHARLIE COUNTRYMAN will hit VOD and theaters in limited release on November 15th, 2013.