Fast Charlie

Very decent movie with pretty nice cast.

In short:

Brosnan plays a role of a very matured executioner or concierge for a local mob. He is loyal to his boss. So when a bad guy aims several of his fellow people he gets things in his hands. On his way he also meets a wife of a thug he had to remove and they simply get attracted to each other. This is a slow evolving attraction yet you can almost feel the nice heat. I enjoyed the scene when he says "How about we...you know".

Dialogues are good. Story is nice. Typical but nice. He shoots, fights. With his distance to himself he presents very good alternative to Liam Neesom because he has his very special sense of humor while Neesom is always poetically sad.

Pretty nice role of James Caan - his last show.

The movie has rather low budget and we see it clearly yet it does not affect the pleasure of watching.

Female character is a pleasure to watch - she is nice, attractive and very feminine.

In general I enjoyed the movie very much.

Charlie Swift (Pierce Brosnan) is a former Marine turned fixer for the crime syndicate in Biloxi, Mississippi that holds together even in the face of its aging head Stan Mullen's (James Caan) diminishing mental faculties. Following a hit on a low level crook named Rollo on behalf of New Orleans crime boss Beggar (Gbenga Akinnagbe), Beggar soon stages an attack that leaves most of the Biloxi crew dead. Charlie teams up with Rollo's ex Marcie (Morenca Baccarin) to find some evidence on Beggar he'd stashed away in order to take down Beggar and avenge his crew.

Fast Charlie is an adaptation of the 2001 crime novel Gun Monkeys by Victor Gischler. Attempts had been made as far back as 2009 to adapt the novel to film when director Ryuhei Kitamura was slated to direct from a script by Lee Goldberg, but fell into development hell until producer Dan Grodnik acquired the project and resurrected it as a directing vehicle for Phillip Noyce with Richard Wenk of the Denzel Washington Equalizer films writing the script. Now unceremoniously released to on-demand, one would be forgiven for thinking this was throwaway action fodder built around a name cast. While Fast Charlie does hit upon many of the touchstones of the hitman adjacent action genre, it has a solid against type performance from Brosnan and a setting that distinguishes it from the more typical urban settings of this type of film.

While I had reservations about Pierce Brosnan playing a southern Fixer for the Biloxi mafia, he does a pretty good job of taking on the accent and for the most part I was able to buy Brosnan as a hard edged aging fixer for a low level criminal enterprise. Despite now being in his 70s Brosnan still exudes strong charisma and charm and handles himself well enough in the action beats that Phillip Noyce knows how to stage. While the movie does include romantic subtext between Morena Baccarin's Marcie and Brosnan's Charlie (complete with a noticeable if not overtly objectionable age gap) at least Marcie is able to hold her own as a reasonably compelling character. James Caan is decent as the aging mob boss Stan Mullen in his final role, but as the character is in the waning years of his life Caan doesn't really get to do much except act confused and the fact he seems like he's still central to the Biloxi mafia's operations is never really addressed in how this is all working and is nebulously defined at best.

This really goes into the biggest weakness of Fast Charlie in that it feels like its noir story isn't fully developed and squanders its unique setting for a conventional revenge narrative. While the movie's perfectly serviceable on that front, the movie's opening with its quirky characterization of a man named "Blade" who beheads a guy with a blasting cap loaded donut or the need to Identify an assassination target via a tattoo on his posterior feel like remnants from a quirkier more darkly comic material that Noyce and Wenk have decided to play more straight. I'll admit I don't know a lot about Victor Gischler, but from what I've seen it looks like he's known for adding humor to his crime stories and given Noyce is more known for straight action/thrillers with no comedy to his name I really have to wonder if Wenk and Noyce were the right team to tackle this material.

As a performance piece for Pierce Brosnan, his central performance as Charlie Swift makes the movie worth a one time viewing in my opinion (when it hits whatever streaming service you happen to already be a member of) and it has more ambition and personality than your average VOD action thriller of this type. With that said there's moments where the original quirkiness and absurdity of the original premise shine through and they feel somewhat at odds with the direction Noyce and Wenk wanted to take this material and story elements such as how the Biloxi mafia continues to operate with its head's declining faculties feel underdeveloped and could've served as a movie unto themselves. A decent enough time killer that feels like it could've been much more.

Fast Charlie' hit me with a wave of nostalgia. Like a throwback to the classic action movies of the past but with a fresh twist. The film has this vintage vibe, from the choice of music to the way scenes are shot, reminiscent of old-school crime thrillers. Brosnan fits into this world seamlessly, almost like a nod to his earlier roles, or maybe standing on the shoulders of those roles. There's a familiarity in 'Fast Charlie' that brings back memories of sitting on the couch, watching action heroes take on the bad guys. Yet, it doesn't feel dated. The movie balances its nostalgic elements with contemporary themes and visuals, making it a unique blend of old and new. It's a film that can be appreciated by fans of classic action as well as newcomers to the genre.

I saw a Q&A of Fast Charlie, and i'm really buzzing. Learning that this film was shot in only five weeks is astonishing. It's a polished, high-quality production that you'd typically associate with a bigger budget. This revelation adds an incredible layer of respect for the cast and crew's achievement under such time constraints. It's remarkable how the pressure of a tight deadline seemed to fuel the creativity and efficiency of the team. The film's dynamic pace and compelling performances could very well be attributed to this urgency. "Fast Charlie" stands as a testament to the idea that sometimes, constraints and challenges can bring out the best in a creative team. It's a slick, well-executed thriller that showcases how time pressure can indeed be a catalyst for cinematic excellence.

This has entertaining moments, but the clichés are endless and the dialog is as wooden as it gets. The people giving this a 10/10 are either plants or... special. There was no character development, the scene setting was terrible, the capricious flip flop in the balance of power is laughable, and the terrible pacing (especially at the end) is amateurish. Again, there are definitely scenes that hold attention, but that's not enough to give this movie a high rating. My guess is Pierce accepted this role because he owed someone a favor, or he's going broke and needed the money. Either way, this was definitely a debit from his brand, not a credit to it.

6/10.