Charlotte Sometimes (2002)

special audiences only

Actually, I tried to watch it straight through twice and couldn't. The "plot" (if you call it that) and the shuffling of intimacies back and forth like a pendulum made the movie little more than "too weird" for me. But I sensed a lot of emotion in the movie but that emotion did not penetrate into me due to the strange style of this movie. I never liked pretencious movies and I felt the writer/director was trying to "make art" here, but someone else might really love it. I never felt something like this plot really happens....if it does, maybe I do not care enough to want to watch it happen. April 26, 2008

Could have been a great deal better.

Charlotte Sometimes (Eric Byler, 2002)

I finally made it to the end of this movie on my third attempt. To be fair, the second time I got stopped halfway through wasn't my fault-- a defective disc was the culprit. But now, a year and a half after I first tried, I have finally seen the whole thing. And it does get better, though not enough so to warrant watching it again.

The movie centers on Michael (Michael Idemoto), an auto mechanic who's in love with his downstairs neighbor, Lori (Eugenia Yuan of the upcoming Slaughter). Lori, however, is in a relationship with Justin (Matt Westmore of TV series Sunset Beach). Lori's relationship with Justin leaves a lot to be desired in the emotional arena, so she (unconsciously? we don't know) leads Michael on, squeezing him for the emotional aspects that her relationship lacks. All is well and good (for everyone but Michael, anyway) until Michael meets Darcy (Brokedown Palace's Jacqueline Kim) in the neighborhood bar one night. Darcy is mysterious, and Michael is immediately attracted to her, leading him into a choice that, realistically, he might never have to make (and that, even if he does, might not actually mean anything): keep pursuing the girl he can never have, or pursue the one who's interested in him? Darcy, of course, has a Big Secret(TM), which adds another subtext here.

Or it should, anyway, but the Big Reveal of the Big Secret (TM) is quite a letdown, and really makes me wonder whether Byler (who both wrote and directed) was in any way interested in realism here. He seems to have been, since this movie is shot in that sort of neo-realistic fashion that's become popular in the Dogme-influenced indie scene. But once you untangle all of the twists and turns in the drama, you have to ask yourself how dumb these characters have gotta be. Michael, maybe, we can buy; he comes off as innocent and somewhat sheltered. But if you're going to set up Lori and Darcy as good guy and bad guy, one of them should probably be at least slightly less bad then the other. (Justin, maybe, we can buy as well; he's just thinking with the wrong body parts).

There are some very interesting concepts here, but I think the material may have wanted a stronger adaptation. **
January 29, 2008

eugenia and jacqueline anytime

very good film . all actors are good. eugenia yuan and jacqueline kim are a pleasure to view and play their parts well. very good ending. highly recommended. November 21, 2007

art.

i've intently watched this at least 5 times now. i'm still amazed by it.
if you feel the same, do whatever it takes to see "the vertical ray of the sun" by tran ahn hung. November 15, 2007

negative stars if i could

i agree with the reviewers giving this movie 1 star. this is absolutely the worse most horrible movie. in hollywood, the white guy is portrayed as the hero and the asian is protrayed as some wife-beating person. so everyone is waiting for change. this movie protrays the asian guy as some innocent person who prefers love over sex and the asian girl as some slut. yeah great retarded protrayal. I think all these people especially the writer should be permanently banned from the film business. for once, write a film that is actually about asian people and don't try to make the guy an all innocent retard and the girl the bad guy. asian people is like all people white, black, yellow, green. sheesh. being asian, i rather watch a hollywood film, wife-beating asian is better than this crap. July 2, 2007

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