Charlie's Angels
Grade: C-
Cast: Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, Lucy Liu, Bill Murray, Crispin Glover, Kelley Lynch, Sam Rockwell, and John Forsythe as Charlie
Director: McG
Rated PG-13 for cartoonish, stupid action


A trend has formed recently. Directors and screenwriters everywhere have gotten into it. It's immensely popular in Hollywood, but not with general audiences and critics, I'm afraid. What is it, you ask? Well, this wonderful new trend is taking old shows and turning them into movies. So far, there's been "The Flintstones," "The Avengers," "The Mod Squad," and the upcoming live action "Scooby-Doo" movie with Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze, Jr. (reportedly).

So now comes "Charlie's Angels." It stars three extremely popular actresses: Drew Barrymore ("Scream," "Ever After"), Cameron Diaz ("Any Given Sunday," "Being John Malkovich"), and Lucy Liu ("Shanghai Noon," "Play It To the Bone"). They represent the feisty redhead (Barrymore), the bombshell blonde (Diaz), and the dominatrix brunette (Liu). Throughout the film they cavort around in skimpy, leather clothing and float through the air as they perform "Matrix"-style karate moves. And that's about it. Nothing spectacular, nothing of interest, nothing to actually keep you watching. "Charlie's Angels" is just there. No doubt, some will be entertained by its foolishness, but I'm sick of having to dumb myself down to watch movies.

As for the plot, well, there isn't much of one. A famous millionare (Rockwell) is kidknapped. So, his business partner (Lynch) comes to Charlie's Angels for help. Along the way, there are twists and turns, and even a false villain (played with exceptional glee by Tim Curry), the the inevitable climax is nothing short of a brain fart.

You can tell that this film was made by a primarily music video director. McG (who has directed videos for Smashmouth and Sugar Ray) cuts this film like one of those four minute clips. Using quick edits, and "mind boggling" special effects, he single-handedly ruins this film. The explosion scenes look fake, and he adds colorful visual flair, but it just doesn't do anything for me.

The casting is all wrong. The only one who seems convincing as an angel is Lucy Liu. With her whip permanantly in her hand, and her tongue permanantly in her cheek, she glides through the film nicely. Her reported backstage catfights with Billy Murray don't seem to hamper her performances one bit. Cameron Diaz is okay, but she seems out of place. To me, she is above this material (you laugh, but look at her virtuoso performance in "Being John Malkovich"). Poor Drew Barrymore. Just because you produce the film, doesn't mean you have to star in it. Barrymore is definitely out of place here. She has no grace.

All in all, it's a harmless film, but I just didn't care for it. It didn't click with me. The action scenes are orchestrated nicely, but the dialogue and the quick music video cutting didn't sit well. This film is really a disappointment.


-Brian Jones, 2000/2002