Just Charlie - Diventa chi sei

I first became familiar with Gilby while watching "Tolkien" where Gilby plays the young JRR Tolkien. To say that Gilby is stunningly good looking, even pretty, is putting it mildly. He also is quite charming.

I opted to watch "Just Charlie" after seeing Gilby in "Tolkien". As a gay man who came out 52 years ago, I was curiouis. Not being fully familiar with the central them of "Just Charlie", I was at first surprised. At one point I considered simply not continuing to watch the movie. But, my inner voice said "give it a chance".

Gilby's portrayal of a teen transsexual, MTF (male to female) is superbly acted / played. Our world continues to be challenged with the widening diversity of the human experience. Being "locked into" a body that is the wrong gender for that body must be extremely challenging and even threatening.

Gilby gets five gold stars for his performance. I gave it eight.

The story is really good. It convincingly tells the psychological journey of Charlie and family. The struggles, pain and love are all so beautifully portrayed. I was very touched by the film. I loved it.

I didn't know what to expect from this but I found it to be a very sensitive, well-told story. The film is keen on small little details and it's very concerned with exploring the perceptions and reactions of the people around you throughout an experience like this. There is one very manipulative, cheap shot at the end (you'll see it when you get to it) that served no purpose and put a bitter taste in my mouth, but aside from that careless and shockingly contrived scene the rest of the film is very good.

What this film may lack in budget it certainly makes up for in heart. Superb acting from everyone involved, especially from the actor playing Charlie.

The movie starts during a period that is sensitive to all transgender children and captures Charlie's troubles with her changing body and restricting choices very well. Charlie is unique for a transgender girl in a movie in that she still likes to do "boyish" things.

It is a must see for most people since it provides much needed education in this matter.

There is a lot to like in this spunky English film about the T in LGBT. And while there are all of the tropes you've seen so many times, there is enough that is different that keeps the movie from sinking.

A majority of the acting is ho-hum, but the actor who plays Charlie does break out quite a bit. Also fascinating is their best mate.

The main thing this film has is a whole range of reactions to the realities of What Charlie is declaring to the world. That's invaluable because viewers can pick out who they see themselves as and also why they may ought to become someone else.

This movie I presume gets an R rating for language and that's a shame considering the audience who needs to see it. Teens.