| Charlotte Gray | | Cast : | Cate Blanchett | | Director : | Gillian Armstrong | | Studio : | Warner Home Video | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby | | Released Date : | January 01, 2001 | | DVD Released Date : | February 03, 2004 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), French (Subtitled), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), English (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | July 02, 2005 | | Summary | Underrated war movie | Content
 | Charlotte Gray was something of a box-office disaster in the States, which damaged its reputation in the rest of the world. While it's not hard to see why American audiences didn't go for it, it's harder to understand the malice European critics greeted it with. It's a pretty good portrait of resistance infighting (the Communists are setup by the De Gaullists as liberation approaches), local collaboration (the schoolteacher gladly helps the Nazis root out Jewish families) and the nuts and bolts of resistance work. No great heroics or big setpieces, which is probably why it tanked: the big climax is more an emotional risk than the rescue audiences probably wanted. Performances are mostly good - Blanchett is much better than contemporary reviews would have you believe in particular. There are better films, but it's a good movie and for my money better than the alright Lucie Aubrac. I liked it enough to buy the DVD.
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| Rating | | | Date | May 16, 2005 | | Summary | quite disapointing | Content
| This film would have been a disapointment no matter what, but the fact that Cate Blanchette plays the starring role only adds to the bitterness by creating greater expectations.
In world war two, a british woman is parachuted into occupied France for the british secret service. Things don't go as planned and she is left to fend for herself. As a side plot, she's looking for her lover who is a downed RAF pilot.
The film limps along, throwing dialogs at the viewer one after the other without any believable transitions. This keeps the characters from developing and makes the whole story seem rather unnatural. in addition to this, the sets and costumes just aren't believable. These people are at war, so it's completely unconvincing that in an isolated country town everyone is wearing spotless clothes which look as if they've just been bought, go around in a town where everything seems brand new and unused. In this fake set you have stereotyped characters and a total lack of credible ambiance.
Get this if you absolutely must have every single film Cate Blanchette has ever played in. Otherwise, your money is better spent elsewhere. |
| Rating | | | Date | April 25, 2005 | | Summary | Lack of spark, bad ending | Content
| This movie disappointed me. The performances of all involved were EXCELLENT. But the screenplay was awful. Charlotte should have ended up with the pilot, Peter Gregory, and if not, they should have left him dead. Very sad indeed.
There was not enough chemistry or building of a relationship to believe for a minute that she'd go all the way back to be with the French resistance fighter. Especially when she lets him flee alone without her and she returns to London.
Flawed story, poor plot. I was very disappointed in the story. |
| Rating | | | Date | March 16, 2005 | | Summary | TOO MANY SHADES OF GRAY | Content
| This certainly is a beautiful movie to look at, sumptuous photography, a beautiful score, so what went wrong with it? Director Gillian Armstrong (MRS. SOFFEL, LITTLE WOMEN, MY BRILLIANT CAREER) suffuses it with so much atmosphere, she didn't realize her plot became too far-fetched and squandered the considerable talents of her cast. Cate Blanchett, recently awarded an Oscar for playing Katherine Hepburn in THE AVIATOR, glows in the title role. Cate was born to play heroines from the forties, with her high cheekbones, dreamy eyes and gorgeous hair; and as an actress of considerable merit, she makes the best of a character we never fully understand or know. How can she fall so helplessly in love with a one night fling? Granted, Rupert Perry Jones is a fine looking lad, but Cate's character appears to be too intelligent to invest so much of herself in such an unfulfilled relationship. From there on, the script bounces her around so much, we never fully understand exactly what her role in France is. And why worry with her knowledge of French when everyone in France either speaks English or German? Even Julien's father (played wonderfully by Michael Gambon) has a flawless British accent. Credit Billy Crudup for doing so good in his sketchy role as the Communist French underground hero. The film seems incredibly long, but it's not truly boring; it just doesn't impact us the way I think Armstrong wanted it to. But any movie with Cate Blanchett is worth seeing just to see this glorious actress do her best, even when she isn't given a lot to work with. |
| Rating | | | Date | March 10, 2005 | | Summary | Charlotte Gray | Content
| Cate Blanchett shines here but the story is a little slow at times. If you are a fan of Cate I would recommend it. Billy Crudup is great also. |
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