This is a frustratingly inert story.
Charlotte Gray (2001)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:88
Fresh:28
Rotten:60
Average Rating:4.7/10
Consensus: A dull adaptation of Sebastian Faulk's novel despite gorgeous cinematography and Cate Blanchett's best efforts.
Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for some war related violence, sensuality and brief strong language
Runtime: 1 hr 59 mins
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:Dec 28, 2001 Limited
Synopsis:
London, 1942.
The world is at war.
A seemingly chance encounter with a stranger on a train leads a young Scottish woman (CATE BLANCHETT) to consider enlisting in a special operation with the...
London, 1942.
The world is at war.
A seemingly chance encounter with a stranger on a train leads a young Scottish woman (CATE BLANCHETT) to consider enlisting in a special operation with the French Resistance. When her lover, an RAF pilot (RUPERT PENRY-JONES), is shot down in the line of duty, Charlotte joins the secret mission as a means to serve her country and find the man she loves.
Assuming a new identity, "Dominique" parachutes behind enemy lines in Southern France, where she rendezvous with Julien Levade (BILLY CRUDUP), the leader of the local resistance group. Posing as the new housekeeper for Julien's father (MICHAEL GAMBON), "Dominique" serves as a liaison between the British government and the resistance fighters, helping to thwart Nazi efforts to move munitions and abduct local Jews, while secretly attempting to learn the fate of her missing lover.
As the war escalates, Charlotte's resolve and commitment to Julien, their comrades and their cause deepens. A once rather ordinary woman, Charlotte involves herself in extraordinary acts of heroism, jeopardizing her own safety to protect those who cannot protect themselves. But when the Gestapo closes in and their mission is compromised, she and Julien are forced to take flight or risk capture and certain death.
Back in London, Charlotte finds she has been forever changed by her experience, and must follow a heart torn between the man she followed to France and those she has come to love in the course of duty.
Warner Bros. Pictures presents, in association with FilmFour and Senator Film, the romantic drama Charlotte Gray, directed by GILLIAN ARMSTRONG from a screenplay by JEREMY BROCK, based on the best-selling novel by SEBASTIAN FAULKS.
Charlotte Gray is produced by SARAH CURTIS and DOUGLAS RAE. The co-producers are CATHERINE KERR and ELEANOR DAY. PAUL WEBSTER, ROBERT BERNSTEIN and HANNO HUTH are the executive producers. -- © 2001 Warner Bros.
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Billy Crudup, Michael Gambon, Rupert Penry-Jones
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Billy Crudup, Michael Gambon, Rupert Penry-Jones, John Benfield, Ron Cook, Anton Lesser, Robert Shannon, Jack Shepherd
Director: Gillian Armstrong
Director: Gillian Armstrong
Screenwriter: Jeremy Brock
Producer: Sarah Curtis, Douglas Rae, Elinor Day
Composer: Stephen Warbeck
Studio: Warner Bros.
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Reviews for Charlotte Gray
Resists depicting WWII in easy blacks and whites, and in doing so, challenges the national ideologies, nostalgia, and idealization that have become so commonplace in popular cultural imaginings of the 'great war.'
Goes through the paces of being intense and passionate without actually inspiring any feelings.
One wishes that the muddled script ... had received the same attention as the costumes and cinematography.
Armstrong ... attempts an old-fashioned movie about saboteurs and war-torn romance but doesn't do the old-fashioned work of entertaining.
Rather good at its best and never truly bad at its worst, Charlotte Gray occupies a gray zone.
When it finally stops being exasperating, Charlotte settles into a genuinely moving tale.
Mostly a sparkless film: a would-be thinking-person’s tearjerker whose cliché plot lines and ice-cold sentimentality sabotage its best intentions.
Blanchett and Crudup are on the verge of stardom, but they're toppled here by a familiar and tepid story.
Armstrong turns Sebastian Faulks' pungent novel about World War II into a soporific.
While Charlotte Gray is too well-made to be considered sub-par, it is not stimulating enough to be regarded as much better than mediocre.
Despite all the huge themes it takes on -- love, war, good and evil, fear, self-discovery -- Charlotte Gray, the movie, has very little depth of any kind.
Blanchett makes Charlotte's journey believable and involving, and that's ultimately what counts the most--even if the destination is less than ideal.
It is indeed a pleasant surprise to see a female character that is strong in degrees, that is human instead of perfect.
Latest News for Charlotte Gray
July 22, 2005:
Guy Pearce to Defy "Death" in Houdini Biopic
Guy Pearce and Rachel Weisz will co-star in the Harry Houdini biopic "Death Defying Acts," according to Variety. Gillian Armstrong ("Charlotte Gray") will... More...
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