Charly

Starring: Cliff Robertson, Claire Bloom, Lilia Skala, Leon Janney, Ruth White
Directed by: Ralph Nelson
Rating: PG
Genre: Drama
1968

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A man (Cliff Robertson) with mental deficiencies undergoes a new procedure that rapidly increases his intelligence.

Review:

Tim: Charly is a very difficult movie to rate. There are elements of the movie I loved, elements that I hated, and some that left me ambivalent. I suppose that statement could be true for every movie ever made, but most aren't as stark as Charly. In the end, this is a good movie, but a perplexing one.

I loved the first part of the movie. The idea itself is brilliant. You have Charly, a man with a heart of gold, but severe mental deficiencies (they would have called him retarded in the 60s). There is an experimental new procedure that he undergoes, and it rapidly increases his intelligence. That concept is amazing and I immediately became invested in the story. It also helps that the movie has a wonderful performance by Cliff Robertson. He plays the role very believably, wisely showing restraint in his performance. Charly is an incredible character and it warms your heart thinking of this opportunity for him. The movie also touches on the darker side and I felt genuinely sad when he was so frustrated that he couldn't beat Algernon the mouse in the race. Those scenes were wonderful character development. As I said, I absolutely loved the first part of the movie.

It was just when I was thinking, "This is actually a pretty great movie" when the whole thing turned. Some of this may be due to the time period in which it was made, but it just turned me off regardless. The first crazy moment is when Charly sexually assaults his case worker by forcing himself upon her. I don't hate this for happening, because while it is a horrendous and atrocious thing, it happens in real life. I get it, and I don't fault the film for depicting a heinous act. The problem is what comes next. The whole hippy/free love/drug experimentation thing is ridiculous, but it was the 60s. I am somewhat forgiving of that. The problem with these scenes is that they are so unexpected and out of place. I was incredibly confused about what was happening- was it depicting actual events or something in Charly's mind? Eventually, we learn this random montage of events happened, but I still have no concept of time- did it last a week? A month? A year? It really confused me and just seemed so out of place. And then, Charly returns home and begins a romantic relationship with the woman he forced himself upon. That makes absolutely no sense to me at all. I don't doubt things like that happen in real life, but the movie needed to do a better job of explaining WHY it happened in the context of this story. It just didn't sit well with me.

From this point on, I lost interest in the story and characters. I understand that the process starts to reverse, but I really didn't feel any sense of engagement in the movie. The whole film just kind of falls apart. I suppose the ending of the film is poignant and memorable. It does make you think, which I always appreciate. However, the highs of the film are never recovered after hitting the lows. That's a real shame.

The film is still worth watching, just for the performance of Cliff Robertson. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor (it was the movie's only nomination). This isn't a great movie, but it has some real strengths. In the end, I'd consider Charly a good movie, but not much more than that. This is a real oddity- it's a film at various points I considered great, but the fallout from the weirder scenes really sinks the overall quality of the movie. Come for Robertson, but temper your expectations.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



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