charade

Sometimes it doesn’t matter how many holes a plot has because the cinematography is so good,
the acting so effective and the editing so striking you find yourself forgiving the narrative
shortcomings. Such is the case with Stanley Donen’s “Charade.”

Audrey Hepburn plays a wife on the verge of divorce with her husband. After vacationing, she
returns to Paris find her husband has been murdered and the French police asking a ton of
questions about his money, which she has no knowledge of in the slightest. Unfortunately for her,
three creepy men are also looking for this mysterious fortune her husband apparently left behind
and are willing to kill to find it. Hepburn’s only friend is Cary Grant, a man she met while on
vacation. He’s the only one she can trust, or can she?

“Charade” is one of those films that it’s criminal to go into too deeply with someone who hasn’t seen
it. Twists and turns abound as the plot folds in on itself over and over again, most of the time to its
benefit, but sadly a few key story elements get left behind and are never resolved, making for a
very mixed bag of exemplary filmmaking and confused storytelling.

What keeps the film engaging are the supporting characters. Hepburn is competent as the
victimized woman, though she falls in love with Grant far too easily, and Grant is charming and, well,
charming…though he does segue a few times into random bits of effeminate zaniness, which is
extremely weird. Just watch his fully-clothed shower scene to see what I mean.

No, it’s the supporting creepy characters that keep things interesting. I speak most notably of
James Coburn, who has the coolest yet most off-putting entrance ever seen in movies and
proceeds through the film with remorseless abandon. It’s harrowing and yet frighteningly
entertaining to watch Coburn corner Hepburn in a phone booth and insidiously threaten her with
words while methodically lighting stick matches one by one and throwing them at her.

George Kennedy, the man I swear is in every movie ever made before 1985, plays a close second
fiddle to Coburn as a swarthy character with a hooked hand. I am still debating whether the
character is creepy or that I am generally affected by Kennedy’s mere presence. “Cool Hand
Luke,” anyone?

As I stated above, “Charade” is a mesmerizing visual experience, from the opening credit
animations to the dated final shot, and director Donen should be proud of his technical
accomplishment. The story however misses the boat far too often in key elements that leave the
viewer scratching his or her head in exasperation. These elements are obvious to the discerning
viewer to the point that if you think about it too hard, it becomes difficult to get caught up in the
suspense because you will be preoccupied with the holes. Still, an entertaining movie.