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      Charlotte Sometimes

      R Released May 2, 2003 1h 25m Drama List
      81% 43 Reviews Tomatometer 73% 500+ Ratings Audience Score Michael (Michael Idemoto) and Lori (Eugenia Yuan) have a close relationship that verges on romance. While Michael pines for Lori, she prefers to keep him as a friend, opting to date the less sensitive, more sensual Justin (Matt Westmore) instead. When Michael finally decides to look elsewhere for love, he meets the intriguing Darcy (Jacqueline Kim). Soon the pairing of Michael and Darcy causes jealousy with Justin and Lori, leading to dramatic revelations. Read More Read Less
      Charlotte Sometimes

      What to Know

      Critics Consensus

      Featuring an attractive young cast, Charlotte mostly shines as a portrait of the sexual frolics and hangups of L.A. Asian twentysomethings.

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      Audience Reviews

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      Audience Member Good Eugenia Yuan is Hot. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/05/23 Full Review Audience Member Eugenia Yuan is amazing and exciting. the story is very interesting and characters well developed. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/24/23 Full Review Audience Member Beautifully made Character driven film ... Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/26/23 Full Review Audience Member A man who secretively loves an attached woman attempts a relationship with a new, mysterious woman. Remarkably slow (or in indie-speak "understated"), this drama attempts to milk each moment, each over-wroughtly contrived situation for the most it can wring. Slow pans and pregnant pauses punctuate the drama, and while I found every plot twist indicated and predictable, I can't say that there was much that could have been done with this story that wasn't done. The performances were all what one might expect from an indie drama: strong, but ultimately actors being actors. Overall, I think the story would have been better served by a short film rather than an extended drama. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/26/23 Full Review Audience Member Charlotte Sometimes is an indie film, shot with a 20,000 budget that is a masterwork of cinematography, expertly using camera,color and lighting. The story involves four late 20's early 30's adults and concentrates on all the lies we tell to others and ourselves, especially in areas of the heart. At the center is Michael, a lonely, quiet man who inherited his uncles' home and car repair business (more that he was the last man standing than anything else, as the rest of his relatives either didn't want the business or had moved away). Michael has renovated the home into two apartments, so he has tenants to cover his expenses. He rents to a cohabitating couple who have been together for 10 months. In his lonliness he can hear their carnal carrying ons, which only add to his sense of detachment. He believes that he is in love with the woman, but since they are good friends, doesn't want to ruin the friendship with a confession of his feelings. Into this odd triangle comes another woman, Darby, who attracts not only Michael, but the male renter. What then insues revolves around betrayals and secrets, of which I'm not going to speak further. The beauty of this film is that we are introduced to the charactors slowly, letting the viewer learn about them, just as the other charactors on screen are learning. What is ultimately revealed is a very impressive depth to three out of the four charactors, who are all flawed, yet very real in their feelings and motivations. The lighting is exquisite throughout, often accentuating the mood, and the clever use of camera angles adds depth without being showy and detracting from the content. There is a beautifully filmed sequence that takes place outside of a cheap motel. A man's soul is brought into question, and as he enters his car to ponder what level he has sunk to, the car's interior lights slowly fade, dimming his face until he is a shadowed silhouette. The title of the film inferes something important, and perhaps I took the meaning in the wrong way; though it was interesting to see that, while I may have been mistaken, in a way I was not; as who we are is subject to change given who we are with and the environment that surrounds us. The person we show to others may or may not be who we truly are - the reasons for the falsehood may be medical, or perhaps just a safety net, keeping us from suffering. We think we control the spin, but in reality the spin often controls us. Charlotte Sometimes explores these boundaries with a sure hand, while leaving us to decide exactly what will happen after the film fades to black. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/20/23 Full Review Audience Member A strange kind of love story. This left the viewer bewildered. Too much left unsaid for this viewer to be able to figure out what happened. Of this much, I am sure: there was more to this than what appeared on the surface. Deception and infidelity and longing and past loves all combined to make this very hard to decipher. And the ending leaves things ambiguous so that we can only guess how they turned out. A beautifully shot, quiet film that leaves more questions than it answers. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Critics Reviews

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      Mike D'Angelo Time Out The film's nervous reticence makes it both precious and a little unwieldy, like a matchstick palace built on a subway platform. Oct 31, 2003 Full Review Robert Denerstein Denver Rocky Mountain News May not be gripping in conventional ways, but it's daring. Rated: B Sep 26, 2003 Full Review Marjorie Baumgarten Austin Chronicle As an antidote to talky American indies involving twentysomething romantic conundrums, Charlotte Sometimes hits just the right note. Rated: 2.5/5 Sep 23, 2003 Full Review Dan Lybarger Nitrate Online Dry but occasionally interesting independent feature. Rated: 3/5 Oct 2, 2005 Full Review Jeffrey Chen Window to the Movies This and other movies like it seem to say love is complicated and can cause much misery, but that never strikes me as insightful. Rated: 6/10 Dec 19, 2003 Full Review Karina Montgomery Cinerina Rated: 4/5 Nov 11, 2003 Full Review Read all reviews

      Movie Info

      Synopsis Michael (Michael Idemoto) and Lori (Eugenia Yuan) have a close relationship that verges on romance. While Michael pines for Lori, she prefers to keep him as a friend, opting to date the less sensitive, more sensual Justin (Matt Westmore) instead. When Michael finally decides to look elsewhere for love, he meets the intriguing Darcy (Jacqueline Kim). Soon the pairing of Michael and Darcy causes jealousy with Justin and Lori, leading to dramatic revelations.
      Director
      Eric Byler
      Producer
      John Bard Manulis, Michael Kastenbaum
      Screenwriter
      Eric Byler
      Distributor
      Visionbox Pictures
      Rating
      R
      Genre
      Drama
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (Theaters)
      May 2, 2003, Original
      Release Date (DVD)
      Sep 30, 2003
      Box Office (Gross USA)
      $83.5K
      Runtime
      1h 25m