Billy Crudup and Cate Blanchett in "Charlotte Gray."

MOVIE INFORMATION

With 10 as a must-see, we give this film an: Stars: Cate Blanchett, Billy Crudup, Michael Gambon and Rupert Penry Jones Director: Gillian Armstrong Rated: PG-13, with war-related violence, sensuality and brief strong language Length: 115 minutes

ROCHESTERCRITIQUE

Having seen this film, how would you rate it? 10 5 9 4 8 3 7 2 6 1

By Claudia Puig
Gannett News Service

(January 25, 2002) -- Charlotte Gray is a sweeping World War II drama that displays so much promise with its beautiful cinematography and superb portrayal by Cate Blanchett that you scarcely notice (or even care) that the story is a bit thin.

Director Gillian Armstrong, whose filmmaking talent was established more than 20 years ago with her fine first feature, My Brilliant Career, has fashioned an epic romance that artfully captures wartime sensibility.

Based on the best-selling novel by Sebastian Faulks, Charlotte provides the kind of meaty role for an actress that contemporary movies are sorely lacking. This fully drawn heroine reveals many aspects of her complex personality. She is brave, brainy, sexy, principled and compassionate. It sounds silly even to list these traits, but women on film are rarely allowed to be all those things in one movie. Not surprisingly, because she is one of the most talented and versatile actresses around, Blanchett makes the most of the opportunity.

Charlotte, born in Scotland, is an educated and cultured woman living in London. Her life takes a turn after a chance encounter on a train with a stranger who invites her to a book signing. There, she meets Peter (Rupert Penry Jones), a handsome British pilot on leave from the Royal Air Force, and the pair fall quickly in love. He returns to fight the war, and she soon learns he has been shot down in France. A fluent French speaker, Charlotte impulsively joins the Resistance as a secret agent, hoping to find and save the man she loves.

What follows is intelligent and non-formulaic, as the character's depth is revealed in sometimes surprising sequences. At one point, Charlotte undergoes psychological testing to see whether she has what it takes to be a spy. She is asked what she values most: faith, hope or love. After seeing her fall passionately for Peter during their sumptuously captured love affair, we think we know how she'll respond. Instead, she calmly replies, "Hope."

Later, during Charlotte's risky mission, she meets up with Julien, a contact, who is played by Billy Crudup with just the right blend of unbending conviction and sexy smolder.

Beyond the fine acting, Charlotte Gray has an authority and visceral reality that transports the viewer. Steven Warbeck's evocative score and Janty Yates' stylish wartime costumes further bring to life Charlotte's world. (Blanchett has never looked more stunning: The '40s-era fashion is perfectly suited to her dignified manner and ethereal beauty.)

Just when it seemed that films and TV movies had covered World War II from every possible angle, we are presented with Armstrong's graceful direction and Blanchett's evocative portrayal in a unique take: war through a woman's eyes.