Shia LaBeouf has long attempted to be taken seriously as an actor since the days of Even Stevens and the Transformers franchise. Now, he may be getting yet another chance in Charlie Countryman, the latest in a slew of super serious roles that the actor has taken on in a bid to prove that he’s good enough for the A-list. Today, we have the first trailer for the film and it’s…it’s a film all right.
LaBeouf stars as the titular Charlie, a young man traveling to Bucharest who finds himself sitting next to a corpse. This leads to a meeting with the corpse’s daughter Gabi (Evan Rachel Wood), whom Charlie becomes smitten with. But Gabi is still married to a nasty gangster (Mads Mikkelsen). It looks like Charlie is going to play the knight in shining armor, winding up descending into the Romanian underworld in a bid to rescue Gabi.
There’s a lot going on the first trailer, beyond just introducing us to our main characters. It makes the film look lyrical without giving away much of the plot. The images are lovely, but there’s something just a little bit off about the whole thing. The trailer itself is just a wee bit messy; this is a story about love and gangsters, romance and obsession, and yet I didn’t get the feeling that it meant much of anything. The trailer is meant to be intriguing, but right now I’m just confused.
I’m also confused by the title, which was originally The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman, and now appears to be just Charlie Countryman…except in one poster advertising the film. Maybe they thought the original title gave too much away? If so then the damage has already been done.
Perhaps this film will make Shia the serious name he so longs to be, but I have my doubts. He still delivers his lines like he’s talking to a robot.
Charlie Countryman hits theatres and VOD on November 15th.
You can check out the trailer below and let us know what you think in the comments.
