Starring Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liu
Whether the movie version (Columbia, PG-13) provokes similar poster production remains to be seen, but the update does provide an amazing amount of cheesy fun and wink-wink pleasure, especially considering it’s a Drew Barrymore movie.
The lame television theme and Farrah Fawcett’s memory have been abandoned for an amalgam of retro-cool and “what’s hot” today. The result creates an almost techno-musical, filled with lunacy and choreographed craziness without a thought about that pestering “reality.”
Our angels this go-around are Natalie (Cameron Diaz), Dylan (Barrymore) and Alex (Lucy Liu), each with their own personality traits, but coincidentally all without much clothing in any of their hundreds of costumes.
The three young women are brought on to fight exotic crimes undercover by Charlie, an unseen but beloved father-figure to the group. The angels are accompanied by Bosley (Bill Murray), who acts as fodder for comic relief as the angels perform acts of women empowerment with well-placed kicks and punches.
The personality-creating scenes are used as breathers from manic-paced fight sequences and chases. And that rest is needed because those crucial conflicts are incredible. Using techniques from “The Matrix,” the superhuman fights feature slow-motion kicks that cross the room with equally amazing counters to those attacks. A heart attack-inducing techno score only adds to the spectacle.
Leaps from reality (literally) create the tone that everyone involved knew they were creating a tongue-in-cheek movie, allowing everyone to ham it up to exponential degrees. This eliminates the usual revulsion factor that pops up when Diaz and Barrymore become too gushy (just see the latest Marie Claire cover story for a high gag factor).
But with any battle between good and evil, the real strength of the fight lies in the ornery antagonists. In this instance, the angels innocently must save earth from worldwide tracking through cell phones by voice-recognition software (evidently as easy to say as to do).
The central figure, filled with bad-guy machismo, is Eric Knox (Sam Rockwell), a seemingly innocent computer programmer who secretly owns a killer look and fleet feet. His head bobs to the 39 songs cited in the film’s soundtrack. Knox’s muscle comes from the mysterious Thin Man (Crispin Glover), a silent but violent killer with some sort of preoccupation with women’s hair. Thin Man and the angels tango in the best scene of the film, one of the aforementioned gratuitous fight scenes.
The last part of the not-too-serious mix requires overt comedy, both of the physical and one-liner variety. Who better to call than Murray, an expert in both fields of study? The inspired casting allows for the angels to play off someone and also be there in case they need someone to rescue. The small amount of lines and screen time given to Bosley’s character still creates what is known as the Bill Murray effect: The audience cracks up quicker than an ice rink full of fat kids.
Another one of the “breather” portions of the movie unearths another right-on move, with Pete (Luke Wilson) as Natalie’s love interest. In a scene where Natalie dances on the stage of the show “Soul Train,” Wilson juxtaposes hilarious observations with Diaz’s old-school boogie. Ah, now that’s wonderful screenwriting.
Thus, the movie never teeters from its precarious position as a laughable movie for the sake of being laughable. The drawing power of the female stars’ continues to bring money to the franchise, most likely provoking a sequel and massive merchandising. But the hidden strength lies in the smaller characters and inspired writing.
Without those, only strong posturing would come across the celluloid. Not that cool poses are a bad thing, they do sell posters. But “Charlie’s Angels” surprises in the strength gathered in between those poses.
The Northern Star Home Page
The Internet Movie Database
What other critics think - The Rotten Tomatoes Site