Hey, if you're going to die, for what better reason is there than to do it for love? That's the idea that drives Charlie Countryman, the debut feature by Swedish commercials and music video director Fredrik Bond. And right away you know he's a filmmaker who comes from that background as the film's intermittent energy and brief visual flourishes are emphasized over any genuine substance. This is a movie that looks considerably better than it actually is.
The film begins with one of its more striking images, that of the title character (Shia LaBeouf) dangling upside down over a raging river, beaten to a bloody, pulpy mess. Jetting backwards in time to the present, Charlie's mother (Melissa Leo, sadly underused) is dying and about to be removed from life support. As she passes away, he suffers a nervous breakdown and begins seeing surreal, spirit manifestations of her. It's suggested that she wasn't exactly the best of matriarchs, but Charlie is so desperate for contact that he begs for one last piece of advice from her. For a reason not really made clear she tells him to go to Bucharest, where presumably he can find whatever is missing in his life. Other than a brief, drunken run-in with an ex (Aubrey Plaza, in a weird cameo), we don't learn very much about who Charlie is, and this becomes a problem later on.
The plane ride sees Charlie sitting next to a chatty Romanian passenger, and the two talk about life, love, and the Chicago Cubs before the man dies. Freaking out yet again, Charlie is instructed by the man's spirit to find his daughter Gabi (Evan Rachel Wood) and deliver a very personal message. At the airport he spots her, and for him its love at first sight. Feeling a connection with her over their mutual loss, and hoping to indulge in a great European adventure, Charlie is soon up to his neck in all of Gabi's problems spawned from her mysterious past. Those issues include her ex-husband Nigel (Mads Mikkelsen), a violent psychopath whose every word to Charlie sounds like a veiled, and then not-so-veiled threat.
This is a film where Charlie is either running or getting the snot beat out of him. He's either running away from Nigel and his sadistic partner Darko (Til Schweiger) or running to find Gabi. Charlie's off-kilter fairy tale quest takes him to a raucous youth hostel and strip club where he hangs out with his drug-addled roommates (Rupert Grint and James Buckley), until one of them uses too much Romanian Viagra and causes a scene. A pulsing soundtrack arranged by Christophe Beck (although Moby and M83 contributed) adds to the sense of this as an extended commercial ad pimping Eurotrash night clubs. Bond seems to come alive when given the opportunity to indulge a little bit visually, and it's easy to get swept up in the fantastical nature of it. There are times when the film is wildly entertaining, but it's awfully stagnant when things begin to slow down.
As the graphic violence mounts and the characters get more outlandish, one can't help but be reminded of Tarantino, specifically the crazed love story that was True Romance. Charlie Countryman is at its heart a story about true love and the lengths one will go to protect it, and LaBeouf is great as the lovestruck hero. Even if every decision Charlie makes doesn't make a lot of sense, we can buy into his determination due to LaBeouf, who clearly jumped into this role feet first. Less convincing is Evan Rachel Wood, whose Boris & Natasha accent is distracting to say the least. Her role isn't so complicated that an actress from the region couldn't have done it, and perhaps brought more to the table. But to be fair she isn't helped by an incoherent script by Matt Drake that never develops the relationship between Charlie and Gaby. What is it about her that drives him to risk his life? And what does she see in him other than a guy willing to take a beating for her? If there's something more to this crazy love that makes it worth dying for we never get to see it.
