It so happens that whenever I see a movie that resembles imbecility, I feel this massive urge to get it out of my system. So here it goes:This is the story of a young man(Shia LaBeouf) whose mother(Melissa Leo) just passed away and while talking to her spirit, she suggests he should go to Bucharest. And so he does. Needless to say, everyone he talks to about his trip asks him if he doesn't actually mean Budapest (But it's an American movie, of course they would present Americans as people who actually know the difference between Budapest and Bucharest). On the plane he meets a man who happens to die on that plane, but wait! - his spirit also communicates with the main character asking him to deliver a present he had bought for his daughter(Evan Rachel Wood). As you can imagine (or not), the dead man is let alone there. On his seat. Dead. Until landing. When LaBeouf arrives in Bucharest a bunch of aggressive officers immediately approach him (one of them with a stun gun even) questioning his relationship with the dead man. He then meets the daughter, whose English accent is that of a drunk Russian in the Soviet era (You should know, we speak English pretty damn well around these parts). He very soon falls for her, while she seems to be in a dubious relationship with an apparently dangerous man(Mads Mikkelsen) who's constantly after her looking for a mysterious video tape (you heard me - VHS video, in case I wasn't clear) her dad had been using to keep him away from her. And so it evolves into a VERY POOR cat&mouse game (not that it was any good to begin with), with very idiotic characters and a very uninspired chain of events, peppered with, what they would like you to believe, Romanian details. And I would like to insist upon these "details": first we have the daughter driving a trabant, cause she's Romanian, of course she wouldn't afford a real car...or at least one they still made after 1991... then we have gypsies pushing the trabant, cause it's not a real trabant if it doesn't have engine problems. And it's not Romania without the gypsies. Cause we invented them and then programmed them to invade all of you. we have the taxi driver who takes more money than he's supposed to - probably a gypsy too. we have the ambulance drivers smoking hash and acting like total teenage scum WHILE driving the ambulance (I mean hell, we're well aware of the shortcomings of our medical system, but putting two potheads in charge of an ambulance - not to mention a very old model - is just offensive).there's also the hipster hostel, a dump where everyone's on ecstasy. (So that's what they did to flower power, made an essence and fixed it in a hostel...in Romania...). then we have a hit-and-run. But by this time, nothing comes out as a surprise anymore.And, of course, in the end we have Melissa Leo saying she actually meant Budapest, not Bucharest, but that she always mixed them up. Don't worry, lady, ignorance is tolerated when you're dead. But not when you're alive and make such mediocrity some call a movie.

This movie is not as appreciated as it should be. It's a unique, beautiful film that kept me entertained throughout, making me curious as to what would happen next. The dialogue included things you wanted to listen to. Shia was amazing in this--nailed every part. I know what people usually think of him as, but he pulled this whole film together. The soundtrack to this movie just created a better feel to it. It's an awesome soundtrack which also introduced me to some new music. This movie needs to be on your watch list! Definitely one of my all time favorites, it really takes you on an adventure. I never write reviews on films, but I wanted to for this one because it is totally worth it!

This was one movie I thoroughly enjoyed! The cast is terrific, Shia Lebeuf has a real role and plays it well, the grittiest role he has had to date, I think he is capable to do more of these type of movies, forget the Disney, Shia! The other actor I love in this is Melissa Leo, she is excellent in all of the roles I have seen her in, authentic, warm, believable, namely the Fighter, Prisoners, Midred Pierce to name just a few. I also love Evan Rachel Ward, she was devastating in Mildred Pierce, and wonderful in Woody Allens - Whatever Works! So much talent in this movie makes it an intelligent indie movie, sadly one that most of the general public will miss because they are too busy watching the block buster movies that are advertised to death and are terrible in the end, badly written, worse acting, perhaps lots of things blowing up, in other words movies made for an unresisting audience. If more of us were to complain about the quality of movie made in Hollywood, they would have to listen and make a better caliber movies.

Have you ever volunteered a response to a raised question and then wished you had just kept quiet and drank your coffee instead? What about suffering a complete mental blank with no hope of a quick recovery? Apparently I haven't learned from the former nor recovered from the latter after seeing Fredrik Bond's debut film CHARLIE COUNTRYMAN.Emboldened by the sixth sense encounter with his recently deceased mother Katie (Melissa Leo) to visit Bucharest, lost soul Charlie Countryman (Shia LaBeouf) embarks on a trip of self-discovery after meeting Romanian taxi driver Victor (Ion Caramitru) mid-flight. Touched by the Grim Reaper before returning home to daughter Gabi (Evan Rachel Wood), Victor instructs Charlie to seek out Gabi and hand her the crazy hat he purchased for her in Chicago. With his improbable encounters and love-at-first-sight with a deadly twist romance with the tortured soul Gabi, Charlie begins to spiral out of control amidst a bevy of interesting characters including pill pusher Luc (James Buckley), wannabe porn star Karl (Rupert Grint), and local gangsters Nigel (Mads Mikkelsen) and Darko (Til Schweiger).Despite the modes of discourse's vacuity, the score is exquisite. From the pianissimo of piano keys to the haunting sounds of Roma music and Moby electronica, it is wonderful to hear Christophe Beck and DeadMono get it right when everything else is so very wrong. Overall, I found the film to be just okay and not worth the price of admission although, I can see it's appeal for very selective audiences. Having said that, dropping THE NECESSARY DEATH from the original film title kind of says it all really.You can catch me at my handle and at The Hollywood News.