Life In London Town (Goodbye Charlie Bright (DVD))

Member Name: rleigh

Product:	Goodbye Charlie Bright (DVD)
Date:	03/04/08 (69 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Superb performances, authentic portrayal of life and the importance of friendships.

Disadvantages: The plot line is thin.

'Goodbye Charlie Bright' is the 2001 release from the exceptional British film director Nick Love. As well as this he has also put forward the fantastic films of 'The Football Factory', 'The Business', and 'Outlaw'. This was his first full length film as director, a brilliant directorial début by anyone's standards. 'Goodbye Charlie Bright' is a coming of age film about life in England's capital of London, an authentic and thoroughly enjoyable drama which focuses on the friendship between two teenage boys from a tough council estate.

The two main characters focused on here are those of Charlie (Paul Nicholls) and Justin (Roland Manookian). Other than Charlie no one particularly likes Justin, they've been best friends for years though and Charlie shows great loyalty towards his friend as this film develops. It's an extremely volatile relationship that these two have, you always get the impression that one or both of them are going to snap and turn on the other, but ultimately they have each others back and always they look out for one another. Others play lesser roles within the film, but for the most part it is this pair that is focused on and in particular it is the actions and development of Charlie Bright that is the central focus here.

Charlie and Justin live a life of house parties, drugs, and casual sex. Little goes on in their lives other than this. These are the three main components of their lifestyle and all else seemingly takes a back seat. They have their friends and their foes, they bounce off one another and for the most part enjoy each others company. They share almost everything, secrets between the two are kept to a bare minimum and it is this that allows them to hold such a close bond. Justin is naïve and seems to think that everything can be settled with a simple hug, no matter how much he messes up and frustrates his friend his solution is always the same; a hug will settle it all. This is obviously not always the case and as the film develops the lives of these two teenagers begin to get increasingly more complicated and their problems become harder to settle.

In truth the plot line here is fairly thin, 'Goodbye Charlie Bright' does enough as a film however to keep you entertained and enthralled as you watch. It's not the most exciting of films in the world, but there's definitely something about this that makes the film compelling viewing. It's a fair reflection of what life is like in this sort of setting, there is a great community feel here and everyone seems to know one another. Although not exactly small, it's a tight knit community and for most part everyone gets along with and accepts one another. There are those that have grown up and stayed within the council estate community, there are others however that have made successes of themselves and go to show that there is life outside of the council estate.

'Goodbye Charlie Bright' offers up quite a romanticised view of what life is like on a rough London council estate. Whilst there are obviously some problems here, the closeness of everyone and compactness of the community actually makes it seem like quite a nice place to grow up. You almost envy them all for the life that they have here, it's not perfect but everyone seems happy and extremely content with the lives that they lead. The film contains morals of what can happen if you put your mind to it and really attempt to leave the council estate life behind, the success that can be gained from using your own initiative; it also however shows that not everyone has the opportunity to leave this lifestyle and some will always remain on the rough streets of London.

As with all of Nick Love's films to date, Danny Dyer stars here and although not given a major part in the film he performs well in his role. Charlie is the most important character here, Justin second, whilst all others are extraneous to the central plot but do play an important part in the development of the film as a whole. The part that Danny Dyer plays is quite small, but extremely memorable. The film is now a good seven years old so Danny Dyer here looks quite youthful, his character is already starting to form however and the fresh faced actor is already excellent. In truth it is Paul Nicholls though that is the star here, he's the central focus and very much at the fore as the film unfolds. Given the title of the film it should really come as no surprise that Charlie Bright is the main man here, Paul Nicholls plays his part exceptionally well and is ever the enigmatic key protagonist. He is greatly believable in his part, Nicholls truly is an excellent actor and always here he is hugely impressive.

Nick Love is an excellent director and to date he has not directed a single film that I have found to be at all disappointing. His films are always characterised by a fantastic energy and a huge lust for life, he captures perfectly the atmosphere of this South London setting here and puts across brilliantly the tight friendship of two troubled teenage lads. You believe everything that goes on, there is nothing particularly far fetched about 'Goodbye Charlie Bright' and always the storyline seems like something that genuinely could happen on this London council estate. There are close friendships, displays of disloyalty, and ultimately a great insight into London life in growing up on a tough council estate. Charlie Bright is closely covered as a character, we see the ups, the downs, and all importantly his development as a character as he grows up and gains in wisdom. Charlie makes the transition from boyhood to manhood, it's great to see this on screen and I feel that this has been done incredibly well by director Nick Love. Paul Nicholls provides the perfect performance and his charisma and charm is ever apparent. Three years on from the release of this film and Paul Nicholls appeared in the smash hit 'Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason', he shows great potential as an actor here and really he should go far. 'Goodbye Charlie Bright' is an excellent film all round, the direction is spot on and the performances are brilliant; I have nothing but love for Nick Love's directorial début, and after this he went on to show that he had plenty more to offer. Make sure you watch this film as soon as possible, try out any of Nick Love's other films for that matter; they're all well worth a whirl.


Director: Nick Love
Year of release: 2001
Genre: Drama
Language: English
Runtime: 87 mins
BBFC Rating: 18

Summary: This is an excellent film from Nick Love, one that I highly recommend watching.