Normally, gangster movies are not my genre of movie to sit down and watch. Not to say I don't like them, I just haven't watched a lot of them because there are plenty of other movie genres I'd rather watch first. But "Charlie Valentine" is a stand out film that I really liked. You might be wondering why it only ranked an 8 but in all honesty I was waffling on giving it a 10, but I try to save those for my favorite films. That being said, "Charlie Valentine" is a movie I could definitely sit through again.
The trailer is what hooked me instantly, making me belt out, "I have got to at least see this film." The story is a simple one with Charlie Valentine as an aging gangster who fouls up a heist in a big way getting his whole crew killed. He takes off to hide with his estranged son, who doesn't know what's going on. His son is a bit of a gangster himself, but not the caliber that Charlie is. From there the story develops into a kind of violent, father and son flick, when the son asks Charlie to teach him everything he knows. The sequence in the trailer that made me burst out laughing and want this movie had Charlie's son being attacked by a man, so Charlie, calmly, shoots the man. The son starts to flip out and Charlie, very flippantly responds, "What? Did you want to chit chat?" It was an unexpected laugh for me in the trailer.
I wish the movie had more laughs than that, but it definitely had me and a friend intrigued where we couldn't stop watching it. We started to watch it at 3 a.m., figuring we'd get tired of it enough to pause for another day, but the story was engaging enough to keep us going all the way through the end.
The tagline for the movie also had me hooked and wanting to see where the story went. A simple tagline, it read, "Charlie Valentine was a gangster, a gunfighter, a womanizer and a pretty fine chef He was also the most dangerous, irresponsible scoundrel you ever met." What's interesting is how the movie plays out the way Charlie is a violent, but loving man and has two different personalities for his roles in life after he reunites with his son. Charlie carries an old fashioned razor blade in a leg holster and uses it to kill in the film.
But that violent weapon is turned on its ear in the movie, with Charlie using it to gently shave his adult son in one scene, showing a tender care that he is not used to, and how he misses it. The movie also shows Charlie's past and how he misses a life he knew he could never be allowed to have. The cast is top notch with character actor Raymond J. Barry, who has more than 80 credits to his name in movies and TV episodes, according to the Internet Movie Database, playing the title role of Charlie Valentine.
Michael Weatherly who has appeared in more than 150 episodes of the popular TV series "Navy NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service, plays Charlie's son Danny Valentine. A violent, but fun film, the movie has some great moments of moral ambiguity and the challenges of Charlie Valentine being a father and a man on the run.
This is one of those rare films that I don't want to tell readers anymore than I have, because of ruining the fun of the film.
Regardless, I highly recommend it.
Even if you don't like gangster movies.
The trailer is what hooked me instantly, making me belt out, "I have got to at least see this film." The story is a simple one with Charlie Valentine as an aging gangster who fouls up a heist in a big way getting his whole crew killed. He takes off to hide with his estranged son, who doesn't know what's going on. His son is a bit of a gangster himself, but not the caliber that Charlie is. From there the story develops into a kind of violent, father and son flick, when the son asks Charlie to teach him everything he knows. The sequence in the trailer that made me burst out laughing and want this movie had Charlie's son being attacked by a man, so Charlie, calmly, shoots the man. The son starts to flip out and Charlie, very flippantly responds, "What? Did you want to chit chat?" It was an unexpected laugh for me in the trailer.
I wish the movie had more laughs than that, but it definitely had me and a friend intrigued where we couldn't stop watching it. We started to watch it at 3 a.m., figuring we'd get tired of it enough to pause for another day, but the story was engaging enough to keep us going all the way through the end.
The tagline for the movie also had me hooked and wanting to see where the story went. A simple tagline, it read, "Charlie Valentine was a gangster, a gunfighter, a womanizer and a pretty fine chef He was also the most dangerous, irresponsible scoundrel you ever met." What's interesting is how the movie plays out the way Charlie is a violent, but loving man and has two different personalities for his roles in life after he reunites with his son. Charlie carries an old fashioned razor blade in a leg holster and uses it to kill in the film.
But that violent weapon is turned on its ear in the movie, with Charlie using it to gently shave his adult son in one scene, showing a tender care that he is not used to, and how he misses it. The movie also shows Charlie's past and how he misses a life he knew he could never be allowed to have. The cast is top notch with character actor Raymond J. Barry, who has more than 80 credits to his name in movies and TV episodes, according to the Internet Movie Database, playing the title role of Charlie Valentine.
Michael Weatherly who has appeared in more than 150 episodes of the popular TV series "Navy NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service, plays Charlie's son Danny Valentine. A violent, but fun film, the movie has some great moments of moral ambiguity and the challenges of Charlie Valentine being a father and a man on the run.
This is one of those rare films that I don't want to tell readers anymore than I have, because of ruining the fun of the film.
Regardless, I highly recommend it.
Even if you don't like gangster movies.