Charly (1968)

Lack of good storyline.

From my favorite movies..

Awesome Movie

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

Perhaps it's wishful thinking, but there are many people who wish they could learn as much as anyone else. It's sad and downright tragic when you realize you're incapable of advancing common knowledge or higher education. Some are gifted, some are slow and some are just plain retarded and will never comprehend what is being taught. But what if there was a way? What if science could remedy what nature restricted in the human brain? That is the premise for the movie " Charly. " It tells the story of an adult retarded man named Charley Gordon (Cliff Robertson, 1968 Academy Award winner) who is mentally incapable of surmounting even simple challenges like spelling the word 'School.' Inside him is a deep desire to learn, but is mentally unable. That all changes when two brilliant scientists conceive of a medical procedure which can transform, first a mouse, then a human being into not only a educated individual, but a mental genius. Based on the novel "Flowers for Algernon" Cliff Robertson gives a brilliant and visually haunting performance of the retarded man who is suddenly transformed into a genius. Not only does he 'see' better than most, he's able to visualize what escapes even the most sophisticated in society. What he also sadly realizes is that 'increased intelligence equals loss of friends.' Beginning with the ability to learn and learn quickly, his advanced knowledge also unfortunately reveals his own future, a future he confronts the two doctors with. This is a must picture for anyone who'd like to see the man beat the mouse and yet have sympathy for both. A superb cast featuring Claire Bloom, Lilia Skala, Leon Janney and Dick Van Patten as Bert makes for a believable Classic movie. ****

Cliff Robertson acting job for playing Charly Gordon is amazing. It is a must see movie, just for that reason alone. The movie shows what it is like to live in the world of a mentally handicapped person. It shows how our society treats those people. It shows how Charly changes into a well, and very intelligent person. It also shows the friendship Charly has with the mouse. Who is the first to have the brain operation. Which is designed to improve the function of the brain. Also it shows the love Charly develops for this teacher Clair. However in the conclusion. The brain operation which made him a mentally well person, is a failure in the end. Sad ending of the movie. However the movie is considered a classic in my mind. Very well put together, and very well acted. I haven't read the book, this movie is based on.

The director, Ralph Nelson, used to be the property master on the Twilight Zone, if I remember correctly, and to be honest he doesn't bring much to the party here. Split screens -- ugh.But this is more than made up for by almost everything else about the film -- the location shooting, the photography, the score, and the performances.People have won Oscars for playing mutes, ADDs, and height-challenged people, as a kind of sign, I suppose, that the voters are on the side of the angels. Cliff Robertson deserved his Oscar, though. He's entirely good in the role. His full-scale IQ is supposed to be around 70 but he brings to his performance the expressions and body language of someone who is profoundly retarded, if the residents of Mussbrugger Hall at the New Jersey Neuropsychiatric Institute are any example. He overacts, that is to say. But it fits the role perfectly.I'll give just one example. Early in the movie, just after the opening, he wanders around a college campus, uncomprehending, as he watches and listens to the students discuss Jung. One of the students flings a jacket over a shoulder. Robertson, in imitation, takes off his own unfashionable leather jacket and flings it over his own shoulder. Not once, but twice -- the first time evidently not having satisfied him. What a neat touch. And it belongs to Robertson.The score is by Pandit Ravi Shankar, of whom we hear little today. But Ravi Shankar belongs up there in the ranks of instrumental virtuosos with Heifitz and Rubenstein. "Sitar" is an from an old Indo-European word, which has also given us "guitar" and "zither".The movie has a tolerant attitude towards such things as smoking pot. "Danger: Smoking May be Hazardous to Your Health." We've come a long way towards self righteousness since then. Now you can't make a joke out of it, let alone actually DO it. This is a complicated subject that I will restrain myself from going on about. My position, in French, could be rendered as "A chaque a son gout." In the end, Charlie loses his boosted IQ and returns to his previous state. I am happy for him that he managed to smoke some dope and get laid in the brief interval of his lucidity.

This is the wost movie I have ever seen. This Movie is based on the book "Flowers for Algernon", but is missing almost everything that made the book good. In the movie there were no flashbacks, he never caught Gimpy stealing from Mr. Donner, he did not get his job back at the bakery at the end of the movie like he did in the book, no progress reports were written, his parents and sister were not even mentioned, Fay was not in the movie, the title of the movie has no meaning because he did not put Flowers on Algernon's grave, Charly and Alice moved to far to fast with there relationship when in the story Charly kept getting sick when he and Alice were getting intimate, and in the movie Charly seemed to get smart too fast which took away from the suspense of the movie. I was much happier with the book, the movie has too many holes in the story.