The Truth About Charlie

The Truth About Charlie
Original film poster
Directed by	Jonathan Demme
Produced by	Jonathan Demme Peter Saraf Edward Saxon Ilona Herzberg Neda Armian Mishka Cheyko
Screenplay by	Jonathan Demme Steve Schmidt Peter Stone (credited as Peter Joshua) Jessica Bendinger
Based on	Charade by Peter Stone
Starring	Mark Wahlberg Thandie Newton Tim Robbins Joong-Hoon Park Ted Levine Lisa Gay Hamilton Christine Boisson Stephen Dillane Charles Aznavour Anna Karina Magali Noël
Music by	Rachel Portman Deva Anderson
Cinematography	Tak Fujimoto
Edited by	Carol Littleton
Production company	Mediastrem Film Clinica Estetico Productions
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release dates	25 October 2002
Running time	104 minutes
Country	United States France
Language	English French
Budget	$60 million
Box office	$7.1 million

The Truth About Charlie is a 2002 remake of the 1963 classic film Charade. It is also an homage to François Truffaut's 1960 film Shoot the Piano Player complete with that film's star, Charles Aznavour, making two surreal appearances singing his song "Quand tu m'aimes" (first in French, later in English).

The film was produced, directed and co-written by Academy Award winner Jonathan Demme, and stars Mark Wahlberg and Thandie Newton in the roles once played by Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn.

This version closely mirrors the plotline of the original film. It is once again set in Paris and features several famous French actors. Director Agnès Varda made a cameo appearance. Actress/Chanteuse Anna Karina sings a Serge Gainsbourg song in one scene. Peter Stone, screenwriter of Charade, receives a story credit as "Peter Joshua," which was one of the identities Grant's character used in the first film. Stone disliked the remake and refused to be credited under his real name. The name of Wahlberg's character in the remake is "Joshua Peters." The film received a poor reception from critics and was a flop at the box office, bringing only $7 million worldwide. The original Charade accidentally slipped into the public domain. Universal had never bothered to release it officially on DVD, until it was included as a bonus feature on the B-side of the Charlie DVD. They previously licensed it to The Criterion Collection, while numerous unofficial DVDs had been released worldwide.

Plot

British newlywed Regina Lambert lives in Paris with her husband, Charlie. She returns home following a short vacation, determined to divorce Charlie, only to discover their apartment has been stripped bare and that her husband has been murdered. Regina is soon reunited with a mysterious stranger she met on her holiday. He helps her piece together the truth about the deceased Charlie and deal with three menacing people who are now following her.

Cast (in order of appearance)

• Mark Wahlberg - Lewis Bartholomew (alias Joshua Peters)
• Stephen Dillane - Charlie
• Thandie Newton - Regina Lambert
• Sakina Jaffrey - Sylvia
• Christine Boisson - Commandant Dominique
• Simon Abkarian - Lieutenant Dessalines
• Joong-Hoon Park - Il-Sang Lee
• Lisa Gay Hamilton - Lola Jansco
• Ted Levine - Emil Zadapec
• Magali Noël - Mysterious Woman in Black
• Tim Robbins - Carson J. Dyle
• Agnès Varda - The Widow Hyppolite
• Charles Aznavour - Charles Aznavour
• Olivier Broche - Aznavour Fan
• Manno Charlemagne - Chez Josephine Maitre D'
• Anna Karina - Karina
• Philippe Katerine - Karina Fan
• Philippe Duquesne - Café Cook
• Kenneth Utt - The Late Monsieur Hyppolite
• Sotigui Kouyaté - Dealer Prophète
• Paula Moore - Ms. Hoskins

Production notes

"Very special thanks" were given to Stanley Donen, Anna Karina, Paul Thomas Anderson, Luc Besson, Pierre-Ange Le Pogam, Joanne Howard, David Byrne, Jay Tobler, Gary Goetzman, Madeleine Morgenstern, Ellen Kuras, Claudine Bouché, Angie Utt, Annie-B. Parson, Nancy Savoca, Chris Brigham, Erika Green, Leslee Dart, Monsieur Abut/Hotel Langlois.

Reception

The Truth About Charlie received negative reviews from critics, holding a 33% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 127 reviews.

Music

(* contains soundtrack CD) "Jim The Jinn" (*) Written by Otto Engelhardt, Pit Baumgartner Performed by De Phazz "Zanj" Written by Ram Performed by Ram "Paris deux" Written by Malcolm McLaren, Didier Makaga and Leigh Gorman Performed by Malcolm McLaren "Paris quatre" Written by Malcolm McLaren, Didier Makaga and Leigh Gorman Performed by Malcolm McLaren "Hasta Llegar" Written by I. Mellino, M. Crespin. M. Estrade, S. Mellino, JM Paulus, Howard Bernstein Performed by Les Négresses Vertes "Enter The Heretic" Written by Raz Mesinai Performed by Badawi "Ragda" (*) Written by Khaled Hadj Brahim Performed by Khaled "De cara a la pared" (*) Written by Lhasa de Sela, Yves Desrosiers Performed by Lhasa "Epoca" (*) Written by Philippe Cohen Solal, Christoph H. Müller, Eduardo Makaroff Performed by Gotan Project "Water Ceremony" Written by Mercan Dede Performed by Mercan Dede "Le malade imaginaire" Written by Silver Johnson, Cedric Belise, Khalid Dehbi, Samuel Adebiyi, Fabien Philetas, Gerard Nubul, Georges Jeannot, Arnaud Codet, Mehdi Felicite Performed by Saïan Supa Crew "N’sel Fik" Written by Zelmat Fadela, Sahraoui Mohamed　 Performed by Chaba Fadela & Cheb Sahroui

"Brimful of Asha" Written by Tjinder Singh Performed by Cornershop "Quand tu m'aimes" (*) Word and Written by Charles Aznavour English lyric by Dee Shipman Performed by Charles Aznavour (sung English version for this film, but CD was French original version) "Garab" (*) Written by Rachid Taha Performed by Rachid Taha "Charade" Written by Johnny Mercer, Henry Mancini Performed by Buzz Kilman "Mentira" (*) Written by Manu Chao Performed by Manu Chao "10 Kòb Konsyans" Written by Jean-Bertrand Aristide Performed by Jean-Bertrand Aristide & St. Jean Bosco Choir "Sous le Soleil exactement" Written by Serge Gainsbourg Performed by Anna Karina "Intro" Written by Silver Johnson, Cedric Belise, Khalid Dehbi, Samuel Adebiyi, Fabien Philetas, Gerard Nubul, Georges Jeannot, Arnaud Codet, Mehdi Felicite Performed by Saïan Supa Crew "La voix du vaurien" (*) Written by Jean-Marc Miroglio Performed by Jean-Marc Miro "Les enfants perdus" (*) Written by Jacques Veneruso English words adapted by Angelique Kidjo Performed by Angélique Kidjo "This Is The Army Of Forgotten Souls" (*) Written by Hamilton Lee, Timothy Whelan, Nicholas Page Performed by Transglobal Underground

"Charade d’amour" Written by Rachel Portman & Anna Karina Performed by Anna Karina & Los Scorpions "Hey Natty (Day Monsters)" (*) Written by Marty Kornblum, Tom Desisto Performed by Backward Dog "It’s More Expensive for This" Written by Snooze, Moritz Von Oswald, Mark Ernestus Performed by Snooze "Zitherbell" Written by Natacha Atlas, Andrew Cronshaw Performed by Natacha Atlas "La butte rouge" Written by Montéhus, G. Krier Performed by Pierre Carré "Bigga Man" (*) Written by Ted Demme Performed by Ted Demme "Fink vs. DJ Alicat" Written by Finian Greenall Performed by Fink "The Spirit of Uluru" Courtesy of LaserLight Digital "Cyberabad" Written by Aniruddha Das, John Pandit, Steven Savale, Sanjay Tailor Performed by Asisan Dub Foundation "Fortress Europe" (*) Written by Aniruddha Das, John Pandit, Steven Savale, Sanjay Tailor Performed by Asisan Dub Foundation "Stealth and Rhythm" Written by Brian Transeau Performed by BT

"La vie à deux" Written by Manu Chao Performed by Manu Chao "It's A Wonderful Life" (*) Written by Mark Linkous Performed by Sparklehorse "Slow Down" (*) Written by Glenn Mercer, Bill Million Performed by The Feelies "Mr. Kennedy" (*) Written by Robyn Hitchcock Performed by The Soft Boys

External links

• The Truth About Charlie at the Internet Movie Database
• The Truth About Charlie at AllMovie
• The Truth About Charlie at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Truth About Charlie at Box Office Mojo
• Official Web Site