Just Charlie

Harry Gilby is a revelation!

There's a meme going around on the Internet (I know, I know, I'm down with the kids!) ... "If someone shows you who they are, believe them". It's usually used in a negative sense; i.e: 'if someone displays negative traits, then don't doubt your instinct' ... but I say that this maxim can also be turned into a positive - if somebody TELLS you who they are, believe them. It doesn't cost the individual anything to accept people as they describe themselves, even when that means disregarding how society thinks they ought to be.

I felt a little bit queasy about the film seeming to use violence as some kind of 'twist' - and even somewhat angry that I as a viewer had been manipulated into feeling emotion, only to have the rug yanked out from underneath me... It seemed cheap, in a way that the rest of the film wasn't, and to my mind, represented a late miscalculation in what is otherwise a fantastic film

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.

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.

This is one of those movies that I saw on streaming without ever having heard of it. I am so glad I watched it. The story is believable and I found the acting superb. This certainly deserves a higher rating than its current 6.9: please don't tell me people rate this movie so low because of transphobia.

Knowing a transgender person myself, I think the feelings portrayed in this movie are absolutely realistic. As are some of the shocking (and fortunately sometimes heartwarming) reactions by people. Oh how I wish every child and every parent saw this movie.

Just Charlie (2017) is an English film directed by Rebekah Fortune. Harry Gilby plays Charlie Lyndsay, a teenager who is a superior football (soccer) player at his school. He's so skilled that he's already being recruited by a major football team. Life is good, but it isn't.

Charlie realizes that she is really a girl trapped in a boy's body. She's not gay, but rather has what is now called gender dsyphoria. This would be hard enough without football, but it's worse for Charlie because she really wants to play football, although she wants to play on the women's team.

The complications of this situation--with parents, with friends, with coaches, and with the public--are predictable. A complication that's not mentioned in the film is that Charlie is a superb player on the boys' team. He will be unbeatable on a girl's team. Is this fair to the other girls--his teammates and the young women on the opposing teams?

Harry Gilby, as Charlie, is an excellent actor. You can believe that his gender identity is female, and you can believe that he has the courage to openly address his situation, rather than conceal it. That's what makes the movie interesting and worth seeing.

We saw this film at Rochester's excellent Little Theatre, as part of ImageOut, the superb LGBT Film Festival. It will work well on the small screen. The screening at ImageOut was the East Coast premiere of this movie. Hats off to the Programming Committee for bring this film to Rochester.