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Charade (1963)
Rate:
4
Viewed:
8/14
8/14:
The fans of the popular game will be disappointed to discover there's no such thing in Charade.
The movie seems to have been directed by Alfred Hitchcock, but Stanley Donen did it. Uh, who? Boasting of a résumé with
zero mystery thrillers, he may have lifted the style from the Master of Suspense. In fact, there's a
bazaar scene that looks like a rip-off from To Catch a Thief. That being said, Charade is an inferior hybrid
of Suspicion and To Catch a Thief.
Cary Grant is too old, old enough to be Audrey Hepburn's father, because he's 26 years her senior. Why did
he shower with his tuxedo on? It's because he was overweight with his body looking ugly. Regardless,
Cary Grant gives an okay performance, but I prefer him younger and also in a true Hitchcock picture. In fact, he has
the best scene, which is funny, by playing the game of necking an orange.
On the other hand, Audrey Hepburn...my, my, my. One reviewer said she "takes women back to the early quarter of
the century—turning them into helpless lovelorn suckers for a man." I'm going to double down by saying her
performance takes acting back by at least twenty-five years. She's awful, laughable, and ridiculous. Her facial
expressions are unbelievable. Every scene involves Audrey Hepburn making a stupid needless fashion statement as in "oh,
aren't my clothes so pretty?" What a fucking fool.
The plot is nearly nonexistent, and the strategist's identity is simple to figure out. So, the ending isn't a surprise.
I don't know why the movie had to last so long which took me four days to complete because I had no motivation, thanks to Audrey
Hepburn's hopeless acting. Notice the setting is supposed to take place in Paris, but the city is hardly shown much. In fact,
especially during the boat ride, there's a rear projection screen. How pathetic.
All in all, Charade is a straight-up Hitchcock imitation.