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Plot synopsis
Quiet Michael lives alone in one half of the Los Angeles duplex
inherited from his family. His downstairs tenant and neighbor is Lori, a
perky, pretty aspiring actress. A few years ago Michael met Lori at his
favorite neighborhood bar; he's been silently pining away for her ever
since. Each night, Michael comes home after a long day working at the
garage, settles down on his couch with a book, and tries to avoid
hearing Lori and her boyfriend Justin have sex. The walls are thin, and
Michael can't quite help listening in anyway. Besides, he knows that
post-coitus, he can expect the usual soft knock on his door, and there
she'll be, wanting to snuggle up next to him as they watch a movie,
while her boyfriend sleeps soundly downstairs. It's a pathetic pattern,
and Michael knows it. So when he spies sexy, enigmatic Darcy at the bar
one night, he's eager to break free of the same old, same old, and start
getting a life. Writer Darcy is a free spirit and a total mystery: she
won't tell him much about who she is or where she's from, though she
does warn him from the beginning that she's not good girlfriend
material. Nevertheless, Michael and Darcy soon find themselves in a
relationship of sorts. When Lori and Justin meet Darcy, things get
especially strange and complicated in the duplex.
Review
Charlotte Sometimes is a love-it or hate-it kind of film. A brief
look at its dismal 3.6 rating in the trusty old IMDB might put you off
renting this flick -- and if you're the sort of person who's idea of a
really great movie requires loud explosions and hammy one-liners, listen
to your instincts, and stay far, far away. This is a movie for people
who love characters and feelings and ambience, more so than plot. Eric
Byler's movie is weird and ambiguous, full of shadows and uncomfortable
silences. The story, in as much as there is one, is told from stoic
Michael's point-of-view, and since Michael doesn't have a great talent
for connecting with others, most of the other characters' motivations
remain a mystery the whole way through. Nonetheless, there's something
real about them -- even if you can't understand why Lori keeps one guy
for sex and the other for friendship, you feel like you've known someone
like her, maybe even acted like that yourself. It's a sad fact that it's
next to impossible to talk about Charlotte Sometimes without
mentioning it's all-Asian cast, but though the movie brings up some
interesting questions about the difference between popular sexual
stereotypes for Asian women versus Asian men, the characters'
ethnicities are, for the most part, not the main focus of the film.
Ultimately, this is a love quadrangle between four individuals who
happen to be Asian-American - and not an Asian-American story looking to
make a grand statement about race. If you're looking for a quietly
lovely movie featuring fascinating individuals and a great sense of
mood, ignore the IMDB ratings, and give Charlotte Sometimes a
chance.
—reviewed
by Yee-Fan Sun
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