Movie Movie Podcast

Charlie Falls

Charlie Falls is loosely based on a non-existent author’s latter teenage years growing up in 1970’s Westchester, NY with his parents.  Josh Hutcherson plays Charlie.  His name is Charlie because it makes for a great title (Charlie Bartlett, Charlie Wilson’s War, Charlie St. Cloud). This is the type of movie that comes out in the early fall just as college students are going back to school.  The audience is clearly HS and college girls who think they are different and like dramas with cute boys.  It will have a very indie-fonted posted, and be reminiscent of something someone would make if they have only ever seen Wes Anderson films and nothing else.

Charlie isn’t like all the other kids at his High School.  His buddies are more concerned with which party will have the most babes at each weekend.  Charlie is more concerned with why his parents are getting a divorce.  His father, played by Stanley Tucci, has recently come out of the closet and moved in with his lover played by Patrick Wilson.  His mother, played by Allison Janney, has since taken to drinking and Qualuddes to drown out the pain of her impending divorce.   While this is happening Charlie feels ignored and finds himself often going to the library to escape into the world of Roald Dahl novels.

Charlie has two parents, two homes, but no one to look after him.  It isn’t until he meets an older girl named Zura at the Library played by Blake Lively (in an attempt to legitimize her career), that he feels like anything is going his way.  Charlie meets Zura as they are both attempting to check out the same collection of Dahl short stories.  They talk briefly and decide to share the book, back and forth and discuss the stories they are reading together.  Zura is a creative writing student at Westchester Community College, and an obvious free-spirtit.  They both happen be big Dahl fans and even have the same favorite quote “Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.”

The mother’s burgeoning alcoholism provides the plot device to ensure that Charlie never goes home and can have this relationship without anyone’s knowledge.

As time wears on, Charlie begins to fall in love with Zura, and her feelings for him begin to grow as well.  Charlie spends more and more time with her and less at home or with his friends who have grown upset that he has abandoned them for some girl.  Charlie’s  life could not be more ideal until Zura’s boyfriend, played by Bryan Greenberg, returns from Vietnam.  Upset that Zura has taken to hanging out with a high school boy while he was off at War, he demands that she choose between the two of them.  Charlie attempts to stand up to Zura’s boyfriend claiming that they are in love.  He punches the boyfriend, and they get into a scuffle.  An upset Zura, runs away leaving both Charlie and her boyfriend.

Charlie returns home to his father’s apartment a defeated man. His father apologizes to Charlie for everything that has gone on between him and his mother.  Charlie eventually accepts the apology and his father goes on to mention, that even though he and Charlies mother are divorcing, Charlie was the best thing that ever happened to him, and somehow (and it is not explained even a little bit clearly), Charlie taught him “Love is hard, but if you don’t fight for it, you’ll always wonder what could have been”.  Charlie, at that very moment, gets on his bike and rushed over to Zura’s apartment.  He knocks on the door, and the boyfriend answers the door saying something along the lines of “you’ve got a lot of nerve coming here”.  Zura comes to the door and speaks to Charlie outside.  She tells him that she’ll always have a special place in her heart for Charlie but she loves the boyfriend.  They embrace and she says goodbye.

Charlies mom has decided to stop drinking and go to meetings.

Later on, Charlie makes up with his friends and decides to go with them to an end of the school year party, where he meets a girl, played by Emma Roberts, in an uncredited cameo.  They begin talking and flirting back and for and for some reason or other both happen to be Dahl fans.  As they start talking about Dahl they decide on the count of three, to say their favorite Dahl quote.  1…2…3…

The End.

For this and more fake movies that could be real pieces of crap, come to The Creek and The Cave each 3rd Thursday of the Month at 9:30 for Pig Pile!