Mark Reviews Movies: WHO INVITED CHARLIE?

Who Invited Charlie?, Vertical Entertainment

Follow on Facebook | Follow on Twitter | Become a Patron

Review by Mark Dujsik | February 2, 2023

Something feels incomplete or slightly off in Who Invited Charlie?, an otherwise good-natured comedy about people dealing with personal issues while sheltering-in-place during the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic. If that sounds like a familiar premise, it is, of course and especially as seem to be getting such a movie every few weeks at this point (It was inevitable the subject would be on many a filmmaker's mind, and since most of them would have been written or made during the pandemic or shortly after it became safer to do so, the timing is just as inevitable). This one, written by Nicholas Schutt, at least has a gimmick beyond the pandemic to fall back on—no matter how familiar that particular gimmick may be, too.

It involves an unexpected, uninvited, and mostly unwanted house guest, who shows up out of nowhere to upend a family's plans and, naturally, teach them a thing or two about life and relationships along the way. No, it's not unique or revolutionary by any stretch of the imagination, but it is nice to see a pandemic-related movie that actually cares about its comedic potential, its characters as they exist beyond the sheltered lives of public health recommendations, and its ability to say something that doesn't feel as miserable as we have felt for a year or two.

These are small favors, but they do mean something. Here, it means we get a formulaic comedy, with a couple flashes of inspiration and some game performances. Maybe this is a case of grading on a curve, but such an endeavor, as shallow and predictable as it may be, is almost worth recommending, simply because it comes across as a small oasis of normalcy set against the backdrop of such abnormal times.

It's tough to give it a complete pass, though. That's only because Schutt doesn't seem to have completely figured out the dynamics of these characters, their individual lives, or the story he actually wants to tell here. "Only," obviously, is a bit of an understatement in regards to the fundamentals of storytelling, but the good feelings here do help us ignore a lot of that in the moment.

Take how we meet the eponymous Charlie (Adam Pally), the former college roommate of Phil (Reid Scott), who runs his own business that does some kind of financial wizardry or something. It doesn't matter. Phil is a liar, a cad, and a man with some unresolved anger issues. We quickly learn all of that seeing him trying to talk his way out of an argument with a woman, who happens to be his mistress, and subsequently getting into a scuffle with a group of men dressed as Santa, a couple posing as elves, and one playing the role of Jesus.

Charlie just happens to see Phil running away from the festively unruly mob, notes his old friend's dropped wallet, and comes running to the rescue. It's a lot contrivance, made even less believable when, a few months later as COVID-19 starts spreading across the United States, Charlie shows up at Phil's house in the Hamptons (The exterior of the place is established frequently by excessive drone shots). Charlie lied about not keeping the wallet back in the opening scene, apparently not, as it might seem, for any untoward or vengeful purpose, but simply so that he has an excuse to end up at this house at this particular moment.

There's a lot more about Charlie's history that's held back by Schutt and director Xavier Manrique, likely so that there's a reason for conflict in the third act, when Phil's philandering behavior finally pays off, Charlie and his old friend let all of that resentment from the past get in the way of the strides they had been making, and a couple other sources of conflict arise. It's all too bad, really, because the Charlie we get to know—a laid-back, weed-smoking guy with good spirits and a positive outlook on life and people—is an amusing and pleasant character, played with natural, sincere charm by Pally. That Charlie essentially extorts Phil, with his knowledge of his pal's affair, to stay in the house with Phil's wife Rosie (Jordana Brewster) and teenage son Max (Peter Dager) sets up an entirely different initial opinion of the guy. Such is a major part of the reason it doesn't seem as if Schutt had this all planned out from the start.

Either way, the resulting story—which just has Charlie getting to know his hosts better, Phil realizing what a jerk he can be, Rosie remembering that her husband can be a good and decent man when he wants to be, and Max learning how to overcome his anxiety issues—is affable. Schutt even goes out of his way to ensure we don't see these characters as victims or particularly put-upon by the pandemic (Rosie lays that out during dinner at one point).

Instead, we can just concentrate on the humor of these characters and relationships, even as Schutt introduces and dismisses various situations and setups before they get a chance to develop. That becomes frustrating, especially as Who Invited Charlie? moves toward all of that third-act conflict, because the filmmakers seem to understand that this material doesn't need more than one gimmick. They just don't follow through on that idea.

Back to Home

Buy Related Products