Charlotte Sometimes (2002)

n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Oft-remarkable, the lone flaw here is its' energy level - with very impressive performances, and through great use of shadows and silences, CHARLOTTE SOMETIMES often generates an unforgettable tension, but this isn't sustained effectively 100% of the time. Aside from this complaint, this is a fantastic film - subtle in its' story, the characters reveal themselves slowly, and come across as real people, with some very real dysfunctions. Eric Byler's direction is careful, measured and free of gimmicks; and the story is notable as a story with an Asian-American cast that isn't about ethnicity, but instead zeroes in on general human dilemmas. A striking and strong debut (and a GREAT model for non-white American filmmakers), this film is worth seeking out.

"Charlotte Sometimes" addresses questions of love, intimacy and sex in ways that I've never seen before. The movie's characters say more by what they DON'T say rather than what we do.Like the best movies, the script is cut to a minimum so that we may drink in how the characters are reacting rather than what they are saying. Sure, it's not a perfect film but it's very good.

I really enjoyed the film "Charlotte Sometimes"! Eric Byler's approach to film, keeping the actors real to life, is such a refreshing change. Thank you, Eric Byler for this breath of fresh air! I was drawn to the actors because parts of their experiences are easy for me to identify with in my life. I have a lot of respect for Eric Byler's decision to avoid stereotypes and common themes in movies that have been used continuously for the sake of gaining a quick audience reaction.Eric Byler made a HERO out of Michael Idemoto's character "Michael", an Asian male. Michael is looking for sex with connection and he holds out for a relationship that has connection before engaging in sex. Throughout the entire film, Lori, (Eugenia Yuan), an Asian female, knocks on Michael's door to cuddle with him after having "empty" sex with her boyfriend, Justin (Matt Westmore, a White male. Eric Byler clearly sends the audience a message about the value of sex and connection. During the last scene in the movie, Michael and Lori have come together as a couple, an Asian Male and an Asian Female- NOT the typical White Male and an Asian Female. Eric Byler has captured in subtle details the inner thoughts and feelings of the actors interactions in a manner that is honest and pure.Go Eric!!

'Charlotte Sometimes' is another highly accomplished Asian American movie released in 2003. Unlike the enjoyable, more mainstream high school black comedy 'Better Luck Tomorrow,' which MTV publicized and distributed, this one is quiet and subtle and focuses on relationships and choosing a mate. Michael (Michael Idemoto) has inherited his garage from his Japanese American parents. He lives in the top half of the family house and rents the bottom half to an Asian girl and her half Asian boyfriend. The couple has noisy sex every evening and loner Michael, who otherwise spends most of his time reading, goes to the local bar to avoid hearing. When he returns, the girl (Lori, Eugenia Yuan) comes up to watch a video and have a chat and a cuddle -- amenities the boyfriend doesn't seem to provide. Lori seems to have a purely sexual relationship with the hunky Justin (Matt Westmore, who's half Asian, like Eric Byler, the director of this movie).Lori wants them to double date with a friend of hers, but Michael refuses, saying "I'm not afraid of being alone." He does his reading. He works in the garage. That is his life. He seems cool with himself, content with this. On Sundays he hangs out with a relative, following a traditional obligation that he neglects during the affair that's about to begin.Next time he's at the bar he sees an attractive Asian woman (Jacqueline Kim). He leaves, then comes back. She talks to him. The non-committal Michael denies he came back for her, but when she leaves he runs out, admits he is interested, and invites her to his house, where they have some drinks, and then some more. He tells his story, but she reveals more, remaining mysterious. She says she's just visiting. She tells him her name is Darcy. When Lori comes up for her post-coital cuddle, Michael turns her away saying he's with someone. Darcy says that she's only there for a few days, she wants a quick sexual affair. Michael can't accept that -- he's probably too interested and too needy to get his mind around the idea of something temporary -- and he puts on the brakes. She spends the night, but they sleep separately.Darcy has a secret, which Lori knows and which soon is revealed when Justin comes up in the morning to have help opening the shared garage and Darcy suggests that all four have lunch. Lori doesn't reveal anything to the group, but in the ladies' room we find out that the two women are old friends, and Darcy, whose real name is Charlotte, was the other women Lori wanted to double date with. She has lied in refusing any interest in Michael, and has lied to Michael about who she is and presumably about where she lives. In being mysterious, she's playing the femme fatale, and Lori knows she's dangerous and not to be trusted. She warns Darcy/Charlotte to steer clear of Justin because "he may be the one I will want to marry."Eventually Michael finds out the secret and that changes everything. Lori challenges Justin by impulsively demanding after sex that he take her up to Monterey for the weekend. When he refuses she accuses him of being a "user." Stung, he storms out of the bedroom to leave, but later comes back and takes her on the trip. While they're away Michael goes into their place and finds old photographs that reveal Lori and Charlotte's friendship going back to their childhood. When Darcy/Charlotte next appears, Michael turns her away ruefully, deeply hurt to have been deceived. Charlotte runs into Justin in a coffee shop and disobeys Lori's request by letting him come on to her. They go to a motel to have sex. Lori realizes Justin has left and throws out his things and goes up to Michael again. This time it's no longer just cuddling and they kiss as the film ends. Clearly it's turning out that the feelings they had for each other were more than friendship all along, and their previous matches were the wrong people.'Charlotte Something' is as much about choosing the right mate as a Jane Austen novel, but it's all done with suggestion instead of elaborate speeches and analyses and a there are just a few repeated patterns of scenes instead of many chapters of narrative. The roles are also reversed. Justin, who's part Caucasian, is the sex object rather than Lori, and Darcy is a girl. Michael's laconic nature doesn't mean he isn't desirable or strong. Because all the characters hold back, but know what they want, and because the director and writer know what they're doing, every word and every shot count. The movie shows rather than tells, and never shows much, but it's amazingly rich and fresh considering the simple raw materials of four people and a house in Glendale. Michael's moment of final disappointment with Darcy is powerful and Charlotte's scene with Justin is shocking. The reunion of Justin and Lori is a denouement. The resonance of the loaded scenes continues long after one has left the theater. Everyone in the film is Asian, so that isn't an issue--except perhaps for Justin, who's only half. His non-Asian side seems to be what brings out the stereotypical pattern of seeing his Asian girlfriend as a sex object, but with the paradox that this is what he turns out to be. An emotionally loaded and thought provoking piece, 'Charlotte Sometimes' is subtler than the nonetheless excellent and more popular 'Better Luck Tomorrow', which has had wider distribution due to its MTV imprimatur.Michael's moment of final disappointment with Darcy is powerful and Charlotte's scene with Justin is shocking. The reunion of Justin and Lori is a denouement. The resonance of the loaded scenes continues long after one has left the theater.