The Truth About Charlie

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

A 2002 remake of the 1963 film, Charade, directed by Jonathan Demme. Starring Thandie Newton as Regina "Reggie" Lambert, Mark Wahlberg and Tim Robbins.

Tropes used in The Truth About Charlie include:
  • Affably Evil: Mr. Bartholomew, aka the real Carson Dyle. Regina even calls him "sweet".
  • Breaking the Fourth Wall: done twice by Il-Sang Lee - first, when he realizes that the stamps are what they're looking for; at the end of the film, when he goes off with the girl Charlie was sleeping with at the beginning of the film. He even winks at the camera!
  • Darker and Edgier: initially played straight with gritty scenes of Paris, then subverted with the fact that Carson Dyle's team had no idea that he'd been left for dead, and each are shocked to find him alive. His sudden reappearance accidentally leads to the deaths of two of his former teammates.
  • Designated Girl Fight: averted in that Lola and Regina start to become friendly, which leads to Lola saving Regina's life.
  • Dirty Coward: Charlie through and through - first, he leaves Dyle for dead, then he screws his remaining teammates out of their share of the stolen diamonds.
  • Equal Opportunity Evil
  • Evil Matriarch: Charles's mother blames Regina for her son's death and tries to run her over with a car, killing Lola by mistake.
    • later in the credits, she poisons the real killer, Carson Dyle, while he awaits trial.
  • Five-Bad Band:
  • Friends with Benefits: Commandant Dominique and her (male) partner.
  • Gender Flip:
    • Lola is the Distaff Counterpart of the the character played by George Kennedy in the original.
    • Commandant Dominique is played by Christine Boisson; in the original by Jacques Marin as Insp. Edouard Grandpierre
  • Girl-On-Girl Is Hot: the tango scene between Lola, the female member of the Five-Bad Band; Regina; and Jeanne, the female Commandant Inspector.
  • Hero Antagonist: Commandant Dominique
  • Inspector Javert: Commandant Dominique, a rare female example.
  • Les Yay: Regina and Lola; Regina and Commandant Inspector Jeanne Dominique.
  • Magical Realism: Charles Aznavour shows up to sing to the lovers once while a recording of his is playing, and at the end of the film. How this happens is never explained.
  • Mexican Standoff: between the real Carson Dyle, the real Mr. Bartholomew, the Paris Police dept., and the "United States Office for Defense Cooperation". Unlike most examples, this ends peacefully.
  • Mood Whiplash: between the claustrophobic and paranoid feeling one gets while Regina is walking through Paris, and things like Charles Aznavour showing up, and the murder of Carson Dyle in the end credits played for laughs, the film can't figure out if it's a dark comedy or a straight thriller.
  • One-Woman Wail: on the soundtrack during the Mexican Standoff.
  • Race Lift:
    • Reggie is played by Thandie Newton; in the original, she was played by Audrey Hepburn.
    • Il-Sang Lee (played by Joong-Hoon Park) is the Asian counterpart of the James Coburn character in the original film.
    • Lisa Gay Hamilton's Lola has a Race Lift and a Gender Flip (originally played by George Kennedy).
  • Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: Charlie.
  • Scenery Porn: No matter how gritty the streets, it's still Paris!
  • Trailers Always Lie: where to begin?
    • The trailer makes it look like more of a straightforward Thriller, and leaves out all the Magical Realism.
    • Ted Levine's line in the trailer "Has he laid his tango routine on you?" gets changed to "Aznavour routine" in the film.
    • Lola pulls a knife on Reggie in the trailer, at the flea market; but not in the movie.
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