Posted: 01/06/2002

Charlotte Gray

(2001)

by Hank Yuloff

The story of an ordinary woman in an extraordinary time.

And, guys… This is a pretty good date flick, too.

The trailer featured the film Charlotte Gray as having explosions, a train wreck, World War II resistance fighters, collaborators, and espionage. It is the story of how a Scottish woman, Charlotte Gray (Cate Blanchett - Elizabeth, The Gift), joins the French Resistance to rescue her Royal Air Force boyfriend Peter Gregory (Rupert Penry-Jones) who has been shot down near Paris.

So, how did they turn that into a chick flick?

It was pretty early in the movie when I started thinking that oh sure, she’s just going to be able to parachute into German territory, find Herman and bring him out. Maybe Colonel Hogan and his gang could help. Thankfully, this story doesn’t go there.

Charlotte Gray is not a war film in the same vein as the recently released Behind Enemy Lines. We see a woman fall in love with one man (Gregory), but during the course of her attempted rescue she meets another one, and, thinking the first man is dead, falls in love with another man instead. A good looking guy like Billy Crudup (the character ‘Russell Hammond’ from Almost Famous) could make that happen. Julien Lavarde (the second guy), is a communist French Freedom Fighter who’s passion for country and friends seems to attract Blanchett more than her RAF love who proclaimed he “is not a hero, just afraid” after seeing all his friends die.

War is just the backdrop for the story. It could have been any war, or the RAF character could have been a kidnapped husband and Blanchett was searching for some Proof of Life with the second man. Hmmmm. I HAVE seen this before.

Charlotte Gray has some very good performances. Kate Blanchett stars in another of a series of movies which have shown her to be an excellent practitioner of her craft. Elizabeth, Pushing Tin, Bandits, and Lord of the Rings have shown her to be well able to handle diversity in rolls without leaving us thinking that it is Cate Blanchett playing ‘X’ or ‘Y.’ Michael Gambon (Gosford Park, Dancing At Lughnasa) is also excellent as Crudup’s father, Levarde. He is a stable influence to a son that is highly energized.

The real star of the movie, though, is the French countryside as backdrop and the loving way director Gillian Armstrong (Little Women, My Brilliant Career) filmed it. Beautiful and expansive are the most fitting adjectives for the way she uses camera motion and angles to paint a stunning backdrop against which the movie unfolds.

Though at two hours it is a little long, Charlotte Gray can be a great date flick. Just don’t expect to have the same things in common when it comes to discussing what each of you enjoyed. (There were a few major disagreements in my car on the way home, but it did give us something to talk about). Except for Blanchett and the photography, consider this a marginal recommendation.

Hank Yuloff is a fan of war flicks and most chick flicks, but obviously doesn’t feel they mix. He wants you to know that his wife, Sharyn, liked this movie far more than he did… Thus the dilemma!

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