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The Truth About Charlie/Charade
The
Truth About Charlie Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Thandie Newton, Tim Robbins,
Joong-Hoon Park, Ted Levine, and Lisa Gay Hamilton
Charade
Stars: Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, Walter Matthau, and James Coburn
Writers:
Jonathan Demme, Steve Schmidt, Peter Joshua, and Jessica Bendinger
Based
On The Screenplay “Charade” By: Peter Stone
Directors:
Jonathan Demme/Stanley Donen
Feature
length: 105 minutes/113 minutes
Extras:
The Complete Original Feature Film “Charade” That Inspired “The Truth
About Charlie,” Feature Commentary With Director Jonathan Demme, Deleted
Scenes, Featurette, Theatrical Trailer, Cast & Crew Bios, Production Notes
Languages:
English DTS Digital 5.1 Theatrical Surround Sound, and English, French, and
Spanish Language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack/English Monaural Sound
Subtitles:
English Captions and French and Spanish Language Subtitles For Both Films
Packaging:
Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 20/18
Sound:
DTS Digital 5.1 Theatrical Surround Sound, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, and
Monaural Sound
Year
of Theatrical Release: 1963/2002/DVD Release: 2003
Theatrical
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Home
Video Distributor: Universal Home Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: PG-13
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
Jonathan
Demme took the opportunity to make a movie inspired by his love for the French
New Wave by “re-imagining” Director Stanley Donen’s 1963 Romantic
Thriller, “Charade.” Filling in for the roles originally played by Cary
Grant and Audrey Hepburn are Mark Wahlberg and Thandie Newton. Regina (Newton)
returns home from vacation to find out that her husband Charlie has been
murdered, her home has been gutted to the bare walls, and three strangers
claiming Charlie swindled them out of millions. Eventually she accepts help from
another mysterious stranger (Wahlberg) and finds herself plunging deeper into a
cloak and dagger world that culminates in a surprising conclusion.
Demme
gets a lot of mileage from the perplexed expressions of Thandie Newton, who
evokes a great range of emotions and humor by the way he frames her in first
person point of view mid to head shots. He also gets some great onscreen
chemistry between Newton and Mark Wahlberg, who apparently had some off screen
attraction going on too, at least that is the impression I got from the short
making of featurette (14:22) included on this DVD. Demme also provides a screen
specific feature length audio commentary for “The Truth About Charlie” that
focuses on the technical as much as the aesthetic. A reel of approximately 9
letterboxed (2.35:1) deleted scenes (11:39) is also provided taken from the
Editor’s table and the picture quality is very good with a clear Stereo
Soundtrack. The theatrical trailer (2:33) is presented in an anamorphic (1.85:1)
aspect ratio with a full Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack. The featurette
and deleted scenes as well as both of the DVD presentations of “The Truth
About Charlie” and “Charade” feature optional English Captions for the
hearing impaired and French and Spanish Language Subtitles as options. A
33-second home video trailer for Red Dragon precedes the feature presentation of
“The Truth About Charlie” as well.
There
are also cast and filmmaker biographies and onscreen production notes, which are
also printed on the insert inside the keep case too. “The Truth About
Charlie” is presented in a beautiful anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) aspect
ratio with an excellent English DTS Digital 5.1 Theatrical Surround Soundtrack
as well as English, French, and Spanish Language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Soundtrack options. Shot on a mix of 35mm and 16mm film as well as high
definition video, the look of “The Truth About Charlie” is muted, but very
detailed and solid with good flesh tones. In contrast “Charade” is presented
in an anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) aspect ratio that is quite colorful and
vibrant if not the visual inverse of “The Truth About Charlie” with a clear
English Two-Channel Monaural Soundtrack.
Charade
is presented without any special features beyond the caption/subtitle options on
the single layered side of this DVD-14 while “The Truth About Charlie” and
the extra value materials related to it are presented on the dual layered side.
The menus for “Charade” are all standard interactive still frames that are
easy to navigate while the main menu for “The Truth About Charlie” is
animated with scenes from the film.
This
is a very fun movie and a nice DVD presentation that pays homage to the original
and enhances the presentation of all the materials included as a whole. “The
Truth About Charlie: Bonus 2 – Movie DVD Edition” will debut on Tuesday,
April 1, 2003 from Universal Home Entertainment and is definitely worth a look
and a purchase.
©
Copyright 2003 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
Buy This DVD Now By Clicking On The Text Link Below!
The Truth About Charlie/Charade