Charlie's Angels: Movie Review, DVD Review (2000)

Directed by McG, written by Ryan Rowe, Ed Solomon and John August, 92 minutes, rated PG-13.

(Originally published 2000)

Take all the saucy, slow-motion bounce of a Clairol hair commercial, cross it with the pumped-up cleavage of a Victoria’s Secret runway show--and then jack the action with the kick-butt moves of “The Matrix” (or any film by Jackie Chan or Bruce Lee)--and you essentially have “Charlie’s Angels,” a film that takes Girl Power to such dizzying heights and crazed extremes, teen-age boys might find themselves fainting in the aisles midway through.

The film offers nothing--and everything. It’s slim, but it’s phat. Just as in John Woo’s “Mission: Impossible 2,” it backs its ridiculous plot with the joy of its way-over-the-top action, its hugely likable cast, and its dozens of references to famous scenes in other movies, especially “Vertigo,” “North by Northwest,” “Stalag 17,” “The Matrix,” and the Austin Powers and James Bond series.

This is escapism tossed into the spotlight, a film so undeniably weightless and slight, it could melt in your own hand.

But what a lot of fun. What makes “Charlie’s Angels” work is that it strikes just the right absurdist tone in capturing one of the more ludicrous television shows of the mid-1970s and early 1980s.

The film, as directed by McG (yes, folks, that’s his name) from a script by 17 writers (only three of whom were credited), is a post-modern parody of pop culture. That makes it sound deeper than it is, but since “Charlie’s Angels” is essentially extremism for the sake of extremism, it’s nevertheless the case.

Throughout, the film plays with what action movies have become--overblown battles of superstar egos and directorial oneupsmanship. But in all its feathery fun, it goes several steps further. It manages to lampoon the television show on which it’s based, while also lampooning the feminist movement.

The women in “Charlie’s Angels”--nicely played by Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu--have a 21st century sensibility. They don’t behave as if they have something to prove. Instead, they’re a result of the generation that did most of the proving. They love their clothes, their makeup, their hair and their men every bit as much as they love delivering a drop-kick to a jaw or a sucker punch to someone’s throat. I’m not sure whether Gloria Steinham would approve, but I’m certain Camille Paglia would.

With Bill Murray as Bosley, Sam Rockwell as a kidnapped software mogul, Tim Curry as an evil millionaire, and John Forsythe as the voice of Charlie, “Charlie’s Angels” probably didn’t intend to be a study in pop culture’s influence on post-feminism. But when a leatherclad Drew Barrymore--tied with her hands behind a chair--lifts and spreads her legs in a V to stop the group of men determined to kill her character, that’s exactly what this film suggests--especially when Barrymore leaps to her feet and tackles them all in spite of her perceived limitations.

Grade: B+