Ask yourself
- do you feel lucky punk?
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Gillian Armstrong
("Little Women") directs Cate Blanchett in a film that marks the
first duff performance of the Australian actor's career.
Francesca Franklyn
As the eponymous
Charlotte, she looks a million dollars (unsuitably so for wartime),
but she's also dour, tight-lipped and frequently on the verge of
tears.
"Charlotte
Gray" seduces with chocolate-box cinematography and a sweeping score,
but that's all.
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| The arrival
of a new baby meant Ms Blanchett had to carry a suitcase full
of nappies wherever she went |
As with the
hyped film adaptation of "Captain
Corelli's Mandolin", the journey from page to screen hasn't
been smooth for Sebastian Faulks' bestseller.
Blanchett plays
a shy Scottish woman who enters the French Resistance to find her
missing beau, RAF pilot Peter Gregory (a miscast Penry-Jones).
Her priorities
change, however, when she befriends a fellow Resistance fighter
Julien (Crudup), whilst lodging undercover - as 'Dominique' - with
his father Levade (Gambon), the gruff guardian of two Jewish orphans.
Whilst the covert
lifestyle ironically brings Charlotte out of herself, teaching her
about compassion and friendship, she lacks the burning passion that
the story craves, and on which the success of the book was based.
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| When the
nappies ran out she was forced to use whatever means possible
to get to the nearest chemist |
Unlike other
wartime weepies such as "The English Patient", chances of Oscar-winning
success are sabotaged by a sleepwalking heroine, and a dull script
that fails to deliver knockout emotional punches.
Consequently,
moments flagged as 'poignant' hit a false note - like when Charlotte
takes a letter to the orphans on a departing POW train.
Despite excellent
performances from Crudup and Gambon, the heroine's character-building
is so tediously serious we crave light relief which never materialises.
The film will
attract audiences intent on comparing it with the book, but this
'woman-in-jeopardy' movie feels more like 'woman-in-apathy'. Stunning
imagery aside, this isn't the crowd-pleaser many had hoped for.
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