Charlie's Angels Review
by "John Beachem" (john_beachem AT hotmail DOT com)February 19th, 2001
CHARLIE'S ANGELS
Review by John Beachem
* * * *
Directed by: McG
Written by: Ryan Rowe, Ed Solomon, John August
Charlie Townsend (voice of John Forsythe), a reclusive millionaire, runs a detective agency. While he never does any of the leg work himself, his three angels do. The angels are: Alex (Lucy Liu), Dylan (Drew Barrymore), and Natalie (Cameron Diaz). They're martial arts masters, they speak multiple languages, and they can break through just about any security system in the world. Their contact is the bumbling Bosley (Bill Murray), the only man Charlie will call directly. The angels' latest case is to recover stolen software which will allow satellites to track cell-phones anywhere in the world. It was taken from its developer, Knox (Sam Rockwell), and his company's president, Vivian Wood (Kelly Lynch). It has apparently been stolen by Roger Corwin (Tim Curry), a powerful executive of a rival company. The angels try to track Corwin down, meet with some trouble from the creepy thin man (Crispin Glover), Roger's henchman. The angels have to find a way to get past the thin man, break into Corwin's company, and beat one of the best security systems in the world. No problem, but everything might not be as it seems.
Before you enter a movie like "Charlie's Angels", you'd better take a look at this checklist and make sure you meat all the criteria: 1) You like movies that are present entirely for entertainment purposes, with no deep and meaningful social commentaries. 2) You are capable of turning your brain completely off for an hour and a half. 3) You are able to suspend your disbelief to a level of at least six or seven on the SOD scale. If you meet all these criteria you should have a blast at "Charlie's Angels". If not, you'll experience a level of hell you've never experienced before. You want an example of the kind of scene you're going to get in "Charlie's Angels"? Try this one on: Dylan is tied to a chair, her hands behind her back, and five guys are moving in on her menacingly. She's trying to burn through her ropes with her lighter, but it won't ignite. To buy time, she sticks her legs out in a "V" shape and tells them what she's going to do to them when she gets loose. The men are, of course, courteous enough to stop and listen to her every time she makes her threats. Sounds too ridiculous? Avoid this movie at all costs.
Oh the acting, what a marvelous spectacle it is. Bill Murray, easily one of the greatest comic actors of our time, has a rare gift. He's one of the very few people who can be funny even when he's not doing anything. He comes on screen, and instantly a big grin appears on your face. Crispin Glover ("Nurse Betty") is perfect as the creepy (and mute) thin man, but obviously the movie is carried by our three lovely angels. Each angel has a very different personality, and each actress cast is perfectly suited to her character. Lucy Liu ("Payback") is excellent as the poker-faced Alex, and her dominatrix scene with a group of corporate drones is one of the film's best comic moments. Drew Barrymore ("Scream") is endearing as the tough-as-nails Dylan, going from hard-hitting to sweet and innocent in the blink of an eye. Yet despite these hilarious performances, this movie belongs to Cameron Diaz ("Any Given Sunday"). Diaz is simply perfect as the ditzy Natalie, and she owns every scene she appears in. Her first appearance, where she dreams of dancing in front of a cheering crowd and then wakes up and starts dancing in front of the mirror is simply too funny for words. In smaller roles, Sam Rockwell ("The Green Mile") is quite good as the millionaire Knox; Tim Curry ("Clue") is excellent as always, though sadly underused; and Tom Green's ("Road Trip") brief appearance as a moronic boyfriend named Chad is too short to get irritating. The only weak link in the cast is Kelly Lynch ("Mr. Magoo"), who appears to possess no comic timing at all.
To be perfectly honest, people who can't enjoy movies like "Charlie's Angels" on some juvenile level will forever confuse me. This is such a good natured movie, packed with so many hilarious scenes, you'd have to have no sense of humor at all not to get some enjoyment out of it. The best comic scenes include: Liu's dominatrix turn, Bosley trying to escape from a prison cell (there's a great John Dillinger moment when he fashions a gun out of soap), Natalie dancing on stage in front of a stunned crowd, and Natalie (I told you this was Cameron's movie) fighting while trying to talk on the phone to her boyfriend, Pete (Luke Wilson). Yet the film's highpoints don't stop there. We also get a truly original car chase scene involving formula one racers out on the highway, and some really nifty opening credits done in a seventies style which show the girls in past missions (In combat fatigues, escaping from a chain-gang, taking a driving test on two wheels, etc..). The one thing I was a little apprehensive about from the previews was the "Matrix" style combat. Fortunately, this over-the-top approach to fighting perfectly suits the film's joyously irreverent mood.
Are there flaws here? Of course, there are bound to be flaws in a movie this brainless. First, the plot is quite useless, and the plot twists even more so. I know plot isn't all important to a movie like this, but something a bit more substantial wouldn't have hurt. Second, Bill Murray being used a bit more would have been quite nice. The man is a great comic actor and he's only got three or four scenes. On the other hand, this is "Charlie's Angels", not "Charlie's Bosley", so I can sort of forgive it. Finally, I really wish someone had thought twice about casting Matt LeBlanc ("Lost in Space") as Alex's boyfriend. I'll never understand how LeBlanc became such a popular actor, because he's one of the worst comic actors I've ever seen. The movie's soundtrack, composed almost entirely of songs with the word "Angel" in them ("Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel", "Angel Eyes", etc..), isn't normally the kind of soundtrack I enjoy, but it's simply perfect for this movie. You know, there's a telling moment in "Charlie's Angels", when the angels are describing the security they have to bypass in Corwin's building. Kelly Lynch says, "Sounds impossible." Diaz gives her a look of surprise and says, simply, "Sounds like fun." Great way to describe the movie, that is: fun. "Charlie's Angels" runs a quick 98 minutes. I'd recommend it to anyone with a sense of humor and give it four out of five stars.
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Past reviews can be found at:
http://us.imdb.com/ReviewsBy?John+Beachem
* * * * * - One of the best movies of the year.
* * * * - Great flick, try and catch this one.
* * * - Okay movie, hits and misses.
* * - Pretty bad, see it at your own risk.
* - See this one only if you enjoy pain.
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