directed by:
Simon Boisvert written by: Simon Boisvert genre: Thriller |
Sometimes, taking that extra shift at work sure ain't worth it. Just ask Kim, who ended up covering for a sick coworker, pushing tin at air traffic control. After being put in the toughest of tough scenarios with two planes on a collision course, she finds herself in even more trouble with the fallout in the aftermath. Rather than deal with the issues she's having at work, she decides to sidestep her problems by taking a job at a real estate firm for the person she's having an affair with. This is also a strange part of the plot because Kim seems to be married to a pretty decent guy, and her lover Charlie is like…I dunno…well, he's somewhat creepy, ain't he? Aren't we all supposed to see the same things? How come we know that this guy is bad news and Kim is oblivious?
So let's be real here – Kim's not stupid, but she ain't being very smart either. From the outside looking in, every single one of us watching is going to think she's crazy to trade a bird in the hand for two in the bush. I'll admit I might not be an expert on cheating, but I know that love doesn't always find us at the most convenient times in life, and I definitely know that not everything we might think is love actually is. So, do I blame Kim for getting involved with a guy like Charlie? Not really, no. As strange as the pairing might appear to be, love works in mysterious ways, as they say. No judgments here, y'all. Sometimes you just wanna say "f**k it" & live a little. How that ends up involving a vinyl-clad Tonya & her fake cat, though, is far beyond me. I've done plenty of drugs in my lifetime, but I've never gotten THAT high. Do you feel me? Or how about Kim persuading her husband to give their life savings to Charlie, the guy she's cheating with? That's a bit colder than cold, ain't it? She is compounding problems at an exponential rate, and she's far from done with her situation at her former job. Did I mention that her husband Jeff is a freakin' POLICEMAN as well? Oh, what a tangled web we weave, eh Kim? Believe it or not, this story gets even MORE complicated when Jeff eventually catches up to her and figures out what's going on. You'd think being part of the force would fix things immediately, but the red tape only makes it more complex and challenging to solve this multi-dimensional mystery. We get to the point where we sure start to wonder who's really running the show, who's actually being scammed, and who's really a victim – all the lines become cleverly blurred as "Charlie Tango" continues to play on, and you know what? I'm here for it! The most you're gonna find me conceding to ya - is that the look of this film kinda has that lifetime glow to it…your classic TV-type of film – you "know" what I'm talking about, cause we've all watched one. Other than that, I feel like there wasn't really too much about "Charlie Tango" that wouldn't keep the average viewer interested from start to finish. Sure, a lot of the plot is tough to imagine would ever be possible – but is it really that far-fetched when you think about it? How many true crime stories have you watched in disbelief, knowing that they actually happened? So why couldn't a story like this be true as well? Regardless of all that – "Charlie Tango" is a pretty darn good time, not exactly easy to figure out, and it has a way of keeping us engaged, attentive, and watching intently. I suppose there's an argument that could be made that it ends a little on the abrupt side, even after we've gone through the story from a different angle through flashback scenes. When it's over, it's over, and you know it. That's not really ever a bad thing either, in my opinion – as viewers, we should be able to recognize the ending, even if we don't end up seeing it coming about as quickly as the very last scenes of "Charlie Tango" do.
So…yeah…I mean, I'm definitely on board with this one. "Charlie Tango" tells a tangible story, and even with its many twists and turns, I didn't feel like anything really got left out. Writer/Director Simon Boisvert did a good job in crafting this tale & showing it to us onscreen in a logical way that we could follow it. Heck – I even started to think Charlie (David La Haye) wasn't even that creepy by the time it was over. I suppose it's fair to say he becomes more humanized as this mystery starts to unravel. Kim (Stacie Mistysyn) was written well, and I didn't even mind her side gig as the lead singer in a band, even though it admittedly did seem like an odd fit or idea for the story. Diana Lewis (Tonya) was weird as it gets, but that's what the role called for, so check that box for a win – and I felt like Bruce Dinsmore (Jeff) was a really solid member of the cast who delivered some real stability and credibility to the entire film. I probably could have used a few more scenes with Wanda (Geneviève St Louis) – but there might even be an opportunity for a whole spinoff series or a sequel film with her character – I know I'd watch that! While it's clear there is a LOT going on in a film like "Charlie Tango," the pace came out right. It's shown to us in a way that we can comprehend the incomprehensible, and I can honestly get behind that. It's not a high-budget film, but it's not a script that really needs a whole bunch of money to make it successfully…so really, if the worst thing you can say is that it comes out looking similar to a Lifetime daytime TV movie, I don't really think that's all that bad as long as things add up in the end story-wise, which this did. You combine that with the consistency you find in the cast across the board, and I bet you'll be surprised at how watchable "Charlie Tango" really is. I enjoyed it! I'm going with a solid three and a half stars out of five. Perhaps it's not perfection personified, but what ever is? Credit where credit is due – "Charlie Tango" is definitely entertaining. |
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