-Written by Kyle Bain.
Kim (Stacie Mistysyn) is a former air traffic controller, and she’s found that after a grave mistake on her part her life is in desperate need of a fresh start. With that fresh start she finds herself wrapped up in a scheme that threatens her marriage and her life. Charlie Tango, a name that sort of plays two roles in this film (but not organically), follows Kim and her husband, Jeff (Bruce Dinsmore), as they try to rectify the issues surrounding them.
It takes forty-three minutes for Charlie Tango to develop, for the truth about the story to finally come out and for its purpose to finally be realized. That’s far too long, as prior to that the film is something of a jumbled mess. Even then, there are mere minutes in which the film seems to actually find its footing, to actually find a way to entertain viewers. Charlie Tango really is a mess, and even in its moments of grandeur (according to its own standards) the film can’t quite excel.
Charlie Tango is ultimately convoluted, with far too many extraneous details present. The film struggles to find its way for the longest time, and being unable to find its footing during the opening act does cause the rest of the film to struggle to a degree. However, once Charlie Tango does get rolling there is a short period of time in which the film is quite entertaining. Then, it falls back into its old ways, failing to keep me reeled in, failing to create a storyline that truly makes any sense.
I can’t quite figure out the direction that Writer-Director Simon Boisvert was trying to head throughout the course of Charlie Tango. Was this supposed to be a drama, a romance, a mystery, or something else entirely? If it’s meant to be a blend of all of the above, then Boisvert doesn’t achieve his goal, and the film feels incredibly frumpy as a result. Furthermore, I’m not sure that Boisvert even knew the direction that he wanted to head, but that he had a series of ideas that he decided to throw together and hope for the best. I’m obviously speculating here, but that’s the way in which this film comes off, that’s the way that I received the film as a whole.
Then we have the ending–and ending that was completely insufficient. What was abandoned nearly an hour and a half earlier comes back in the closing seconds of the film. Multiple storylines exist at the same time, and only ever so slightly do they ever really overlap. There are pieces of this film, both the beginning and the end, that could cease to exist and Charlie Tango wouldn’t have changed in the slightest. Why include these things in the film? Why add things that are completely unrelated to the primary storyline and do nothing to move it along? I can’t come up with an answer, and I can’t figure out how Boisvert felt that these decisions were warranted.
I struggled with most of Charlie Tango. Things from the storytelling, to the characters, to the actors themselves didn’t resonate with me–and I struggled to accept and appreciate the things going on throughout the film. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again (if only for lack of a better word), Charlie Tango is a mess–and not the ironically fun kind, just a downright mess.
Written & Directed by Simon Boisvert.
Starring David La Haye, Stacie Mistysyn, Bruce Dinsmore, Diana Lewis, Marcel Jeannin, Peter Miller, etc.
4.5/10 = WORTH WATCHING, BUT YOU’VE BEEN WARNED
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