Charlotte Gray: Movie & DVD Review (2002)

(Originally published 2002)

Gillian Armstrong's great-looking World War II drama, "Charlotte Gray," stars Cate Blanchett as Charlotte Gray, a Scot living in London whose whirlwind romance with Peter (Rupert Penry Jones), a British RAF pilot, eventually draws her into a life as a spy when Peter's plane is shot down over France.

Convinced he’s still alive, Charlotte sets out to find him on her own.

Undergoing a grueling training regimen by the British Special Operations Executive and an intense psychological examination that tests her mettle, she eventually changes her name to Dominique Gilbert, colors her blond locks brown—and, after parachuting into Nazi-occupied France under the cover of night, begins working for the French Resistance in the small town of Lezignac.

While all of this may sound like a ripe pile of schmaltz from Danielle Steel, the good news is that it’s actually closer to the work of Susan Isaacs—which is to say that in adapting Sebastian Faulks’ best-selling novel for the screen, screenwriter Jeremy Brock and Armstrong have created a romanticized version of history that’s mostly enjoyable in spite of its occasional moments of cheese.

After connecting in Lezignac with her contact, Julian (Billy Crudup), and moving in with his grumpy father, Levade (Michael Gambon), Charlotte unwittingly gets caught in a series of intrigues, some of which are believable, a few of which are a stretch--and none of which can be revealed here.

As always, Blanchett is a wonder, easily one of the best actresses working today, but the rest of the cast is also impressive, especially Gambon, whose memorable performance becomes one of the film’s highlights when the Germans take full control of Lezignac.

Considering the recent wave of hyper-realistic war movies pouring out of Hollywood, it’s become almost sweet and old fashioned to see someone get shot in the face as opposed to watching their entrails being dragged across the screen. To that end, “Charlotte Gray” will likely come as a relief to those seeking a throwback to the World War II movies of the late 1940s and 1950s, when violence was implied but the battle being waged and the story being told were just as gripping.

Grade: B+