Michael is a Japanese American auto mechanic torn between a restrictive traditional upbringing and his own potent dreams and desires. Secretly in love with the girlishly sexy, Chinese American Lori, Michael represses his longing (and growing resentment) to maintain their cherished friendship. When he encounters the mysterious Darcy at the local nightspot, Michael is forced to choose between a daring tryst with an alluring stranger, and the habitual comfort of his bittersweet obsession. [TRAILER]

STEVEN SNYDER'S REVIEW

I cannot say enough about the independent, soon-to-be-released film “Charlotte Sometimes.” This is a brilliant independent film, discovered by Roger Ebert at the Hawaii Film Festival, about four young adults and the pain that goes hand-in-hand with their search for love. Each of these characters seem real and complex. Some are attracted to each other but won’t admit. Some are disguising sex as love. Others are only involved with one person to make another jealous. And, above all, each character is searching for that happiness that they are never able to find.

In the festival’s program notes, Ebert says that this movie is what film festivals are all about for him—discovering great new works by unknown filmmakers. And I must again agree with him completely in regards to this masterpiece. To think that “Charlotte Sometimes” might never have been seen by audiences, might never have touched people the way it touched Ebert and myself, is appalling. When considered against the likes of “Jackass The Movie,” “Charlotte Sometimes” is pure gold.

It is the kind of film that cannot be judged free from personal experience. There is so much occurring between these characters that will only seem real if the viewer has experienced some level of it in their lives. I am at a time in my life when surprises are occurring constantly. I am learning new things about myself everyday. I am dealing with new issues regarding romance and affection that I never before contemplated. And, in that vein, “Charlotte Sometimes” seemed perfectly natural. It touched on the issues that I have been grappling with, and is honest enough to say that there are no easy answers to this elusive thing called love.

In the post-film discussion, the director and the stars of the film discussed the worsening scarcity of roles for Asian-Americans. They also discussed the power of this film, attributing its success to its willingness to leave so much unsaid. The director reflected on how some affiliated with the film wanted him to provide voice-over to explain unclear items to the audience. Instead, he stuck to his guns and kept part of the film a mystery. The result is a movie that is widely debated by those who see it – a movie that seems alive and fresh, and refuses to be confined by expectations or genres.

“Charlotte Sometimes” is a brilliant movie. It is about irrational, unexplainable life and it seems so real because it does not attempt to filter out the complexity. We love these characters, and are riveted by what will become of their dreams and their hearts. And, although the path is anything but what we expect, we embrace the randomness and irrationality because, in some sense, we have experienced that craziness ourselves.

MOVIE WEB PAGE

LINKS TO REVIEWS
Roger Ebert

IMDB WEB PAGE

MOVIE REVIEW QUERY ENGINE

Check Local Listings for Showtimes

DAVID JOHNSON'S REVIEW

When you view movies, or art of any kind for that matter, you try for a minute to see something through someone else's eyes. You open yourself up for a minute to something that another person believes in. Yet no matter how beautiful the art is, you can never truly see through another person's eyes. You'll always carry with you your wealth of person bias's and emotion.
Looking at art now compared to 4 years ago, the tone of the messages has changed so much. The scenes I used to love in American Beauty aren't the same anymore. It's much funnier now. It's much darker now, yet at the same time, so much brighter.

How we view art has so much to do with what you've previously understood about life. Will you fully understand Charlotte Sometimes if you've never loved someone so much that they literally become another piece of you? For that matter, does Lester Burham's character make any sense unless you've actually known what it's like to feel like your life can't get any worse.

That all being said, Charlotte Sometimes is one of those movies that may or may not touch you personally. These characters all seem to be the worst parts of humanity, all amplified in one person. The problem is that I doubt everyone will see that. Perhaps maybe that is the wonderful part of this movie. Some may find parallels for their relationships. They may see one character as the hero.

I saw all these characters and as watching them realized that I could see myself in all the characters, yet at the same time could see why everything these characters did was wrong.

The story revolves around four characters whose lives have become intertwined. Charlotte/Darcy is a writer who visits this part of California only sometimes. She is perhaps the ultimate embodiment of non-committal relationships. She uses a bar name always when meeting people. To her sex is a way to get to know someone...a way of feeling closer to someone without any of the work involved. She always leaves herself an out to make sure that no one can leave her, because she'll always leave them first. She always maintains her distance from everyone....always afraid to let herself or anyone else really honestly love her. Always afraid to be needed or have anyone need her.

Lori is living with her boyfriend, Justin, next door to her landlord and good friend, Michael. Perhaps her and Darcy are exactly the same. She doesn't want to actually love someone -- she simply wants to be comfortable. With her boyfriend they have 'passionate' sex. They do it all the time -- often instead of speaking. They may be good friends. They seem to get along fine and work well as living partners -- but in the end, Lori is with him because it's easier. Because with him she doesn't have to feel anything. She doesn't need him, there is no real love. They could never dream of loving each other so completely that they would ever become a part of one another.

Justin is an idiot. Well, maybe not. Justin is by far the most happy in his life. He screws his girlfriend, is generally indifferent with his boring job, and feels no attachment to anyone or anything. He can't be hurt because he simply doesn't feel.

Michael lives at home, and has become best friends with his tenant, Lori. Michael has a relatively mundane live. He owns a repair shop, where he works. He reads a lot of books, engrossing himself in the characters of their lives. He's afraid to feel anything other than his sadness. He's not sad for any particular reason...maybe it's hearing Lori get nailed by her boyfriend through the walls. Or maybe it's simply that he feels an attachment to his garage and can't leave it all behind like everyone else in his family. Michael is perhaps too stuck in his life. Unwilling to pick himself up and leave this place for anyone or anything.

Together, they form an almost twisted square of relations. A square so doomed by their relationships. The movie sets this up so perfectly. When Michael and Darcy meet they spend almost the entire time drinking. They say all of 3 words to each other in convoluted forced sentences -- yet here is the love story of the movie. Lori asks Justin to say he loves her 5 times, before he finally does before screwing her on the floor. Lori has sex with her boyfriend and then gets dressed and comes over to fall asleep at Michaels.

And the ending is absolutely depressing. These people are not heroes of modern cinema in the respect that they will rise from adversity and overcome their problems. They are heroes of modern cinema in that they won't. Most directors are afraid to show characters near the bottom of the barrel only to send them past that point to the absolute bottom.

Eric Byler, the director, shows a incredible patience that I haven't seen from many directors. He seems to have the ability to put the camera on a character with minimal lighting, support and dialogue and shows these characters during their normal lives.

To admit it, I saw myself in all these characters. You can see yourself as Justin, trying to desperately stay blissfully ignorant to the world. Trying to pretend that there's nothing more worth living than to sit around drink beer, screw women and live a miserable pointless existence. I find the Darcy element. Randomly hooking up, if for no other reason than because sex without feeling is ultimately completely safe -- sex that way is never disappointing, never less than you expected -- it's simply stimuli. I can see myself at times afraid to leave what's comfortable. Afraid to do something to break the monotony in my life. And there's Lori. The ultimate desire to be loved, but too afraid to actually go out and love someone, or be loved yourself.

You see it all, and you can't believe that it's there. You can't believe that the worst parts of your life could be captured so well by a film. Then, though, you can realize it and start to change. You can adapt. You can become in touch with your emotions and realize the part they play.
That is the secret to this movie. It's ability to reach within your soul and rip out a part of it.

Yet at the same time I didn’t leave this movie nearly as depressed as my review might suggest. Rather I left it introspective and looking forward to the future. After all, when you realize the parts of you that you might not like you can always work harder to make certain parts better.

Strangely enough I find it hard to talk about the movie as much as the ideas behind it. There has been a lot of talk from other critics about the strong Asian personalities and the fact that hey this is an Asian American movie. I didn’t notice. I like to think of that as a good thing. And while I do find it nice that Asian-American film has gotten more attention lately, I still don’t believe it’s that relevant to the amazing message of the movie.

This movie also is truly art. It communicates so well with its audience that was able to spend this entire movie talking about the ideas behind the movie: the great characters and simply the amazing ambiance that this movie creates. IF you get a chance to see this movie, make an extra special effort to do so.

Movies @ Zertinet | Oscars @ Zertinet | Main Site
IMDB | Moviefone | Movie Review Query Engine
Contact Us | Subscribe | Unsubscribe

Best Viewed at 800 X 600 or greater
Design by David Johnson