Reel Critics -- Mary Castillo and Sara Salam

‘Charlotte Gray” betrays, is betrayed by slow pace

“Charlotte Gray,” starring Cate Blanchett in the eponymous role, is a

deliberately paced spy drama set in the darkest days of World War II.

Based on the novel by Sebastian Faulks, it is a story about how war

forces people to lie and to betray one another in order to survive.

Charlotte’s life abruptly changes after a chance encounter with a

chatty bureaucrat on a train bound for London. At his invitation, she

attends a party where she meets a dashing Royal Air Force pilot, Peter

Gregory (played memorably by Rupert Penry-Jones), and discovers that her

travel companion is an operative in the British Secret Service.

When Peter’s plane is shot down over France, Charlotte believes she

has a chance to rescue him by signing up as a spy. She is one of the few

chosen to operate in the free-zone of southern France, where the Nazis

are held at bay by the cooperative Vichy government. Under the cover of a

new identity -- Dominique -- her life is entwined with those of a

resistance fighter named Julien (Billy Crudup), his father, Levarde

(Michael Gambon), and two orphaned boys whose parents were carted away

with the other Jewish citizens of the village.

Blanchett fearlessly dedicates herself to the role, revealing

Charlotte’s sources of weakness, along with her unrelenting hold on hope

and courage. The only major flaw in this film -- besides the slow pacing

-- is the lackluster chemistry between Blanchett and Crudup. Although the

role of Julien could easily have been rendered coldly fatalistic in the

hands of a lesser actor, Crudup is simply not believable as a potential

love interest.

Overall, the action is taut and each scene makes you wonder what could

possibly go wrong next. And the story is truly heartbreaking because it

doesn’t pull punches when showing a teacher who willingly betrays his

students and their families, Charlotte’s unwitting betrayal of the local

resistance fighters, and a son who is asked to betray his own father to

save the lives of the boys. If you’re looking for a clear

good-versus-evil, we-against-them kind of war movie, “Charlotte Gray”

will not be your cup of tea.

“Charlotte Gray” is rated PG-13 for some war related violence,

sensuality and brief strong language.* MARY A. CASTILLO, 28, is a Costa

Mesa resident.

Dude, ‘Orange County’ rocks out

“There’s supposed to be a bitchin’ new nightclub opening in Newport.”

“He was crossing PCH!”

“We have to help those seals in Corona del Mar.”

Surfers? Cheerleaders? The lingo? Dude, it is “Orange County.” Well,

at least in film.

At Vista del Mar High School, you have a normal high school scene,

with cheerleaders dancing their routine, the music blasting, and everyone

just chilling with their friends and their cell phones and fancy cars.

But this view of Orange County is totally exaggerated, compared with the

real one.

It’s true, there are cheerleaders, music and groups of friends. But

the real lives of students are not as partyish. Don’t take me wrong, we

do have fun, but not to the point where there is total chaos.

Colin Hanks plays Shaun Brumder, a high school student who is a

fantastic writer and wants to go to Stanford. His family consists of his

drunken mother, a couch-potato brother named Lance and a stepfather named

Bob. All Shaun wants to do is go away to college so he doesn’t have to

put up with his family. But in the process of applying, the college

receives a copy of the wrong transcript. So Shaun doesn’t get accepted to

Stanford. But, the head cheerleader of Vista del Mar does, mainly because

her grandfather has connections.

The rest of the movie is about Shaun’s attempt to make Stanford accept

him. First, he goes to his father, who is this rich old guy who only

cares about money. He has his expensive mansion and luxury pool, and

doesn’t even bother to help his son. Shaun tries many other ways, but all

his plans seem to backfire. Tough luck!

“Orange County” is a movie making fun of the real and excellent Orange

County. So what if we have cell phones and nice cars. Who cares? The

movie is just hilarious for this reason.

It depicts certain characteristics of Orange County and manipulates

them so they seem totally stupid and lame, like we’re bad guys or

something. But we’re not. It’s interesting to see how other people think

of us, in a completely nonsensical way.

“Orange County” is a great movie that’s full of comedy, but the story

line is just plain weird. But, dude, this movie just rocks, man!

“Orange County” is rated PG-13 for drug content, language and

sexuality.

* SARA SALAM attends Corona del Mar High School as an eighth-grader.