Die Wahrheit über Charlie (2002)

Die Wahrheit über Charlie: Directed by Jonathan Demme. With Olga Sékulic, Stephen Dillane, Françoise Bertin, Thandiwe Newton. A woman returns from holiday to find her husband has been murdered, and several groups of people are pressuring her to unravel the mystery of his true identity and activities during his final days.

“OK, so I didnu0026#39;t waste eight bucks at the box office, nor did I spend four bucks at Blockbuster; luckily, I had credit at Netflix.com so I didnu0026#39;t spend a dime to see this latest of Hollywood remakes. Apparently very few screenwriters can come up with original ideas, so we wind up with a new version of an old favorite month after month. I hope that Mr. Demme is out of rehab by now, because he mustu0026#39;ve been on some kind of delusional trip when he got the idea to remake a classic. Iu0026#39;ve read all the reviews posted here at IMDB, and for the life of me I cannot see the rants and raves for Thandie Newton. Poor child, why didnu0026#39;t her mother tell her NOT to attempt to recreate an Audrey Hepburn role? She has about as much cinematic charisma as a pile of sawdust. Early in the movie when sheu0026#39;s standing between the French Commandant and the Lieutenant, Ms. Newton completely disappears. I was watching the Lt. more than the star of the picture. Seeing the extras on the DVD, Mr. Demme proclaimed he was looking for the right vehicle for Ms. Newtonu0026#39;s talent (or did he have more prurient interests in her off camera?). The worst scene was the gunpoint standoff which I found myself looking at my watch, wondering how long could this go on? Iu0026#39;ve always been a huge fan of Tim Robbins, but what in heavenu0026#39;s name, was the accent he was trying to use? I canu0026#39;t blame Mark Wahlberg, he chomped at the bit to play a romantic lead. Damn! Had he never seen the original film and realized whom he would be compared to? This was truly sad. Thereu0026#39;s no reason to continue tearing this piece of schlock frame by frame, but the closing credits??? Mr. Demme chose to dedicate this to his late brother…whou0026#39;s surely rolling over in his grave from this. Ms. Portmanu0026#39;s music even had to use the Mancini theme to compensate for her lack of originality. Then, I wouldnu0026#39;t have believed this if I hadnu0026#39;t seen it…someone at Universal Pictures had the gall to put the original u0026quot;Charadeu0026quot; on the flip side of the u0026quot;Charlieu0026quot; DVD. Stupidity? Insanity? Audacity? There is NO word for it! God! What a mess!!!”