What would it look like if you took James Bond and put him in the South and gave him a Southern accent? Well, this week for Review Stew we are going to find out. That’s right, we’re heading down to the bayou and trying to keep up with…Fast Charlie (2023).
Title: Fast Charlie
Director: Phillip Noyce
Released: December 8, 2023
Runtime: 1 hour 30 minutes
Available to stream on: Hulu
Charlie (Pierce Brosnan) is a “problem solver” for mob boss Stan Mullen (James Caan). He’s aware that his career is in its twilight phase and agrees to give a kid by the name of Blade (Brennan Keel Cook) an opportunity.
As you’d assume, Blade earned his name because of his skills with a knife. Except this time around, Blade wants to show he’s more than a one-trick pony. Rather than stabbing the target, he placed a blasting cap into a box of donuts. It was successful, but also problematic as it blew the target’s head clean off. This leads Charlie to the target’s ex, Marcie (Morena Baccarin). He needs her to identify the target’s body in order to prove that the job was completed.
Meanwhile, the new player in town, Beggar (Gbenga Akinnagbe), has requested a sit-down with Stan to discuss business. While Charlie agrees to pass along the request, what he doesn’t expect is for Beggar’s crew to take out Stan and his entire crew.
Now Charlie’s one last job has become a revenge tour, but can he pull this off on his own?
Look, let’s just go ahead and address the elephant in the room, Brosnan’s accent is certainly a choice that was made. I couldn’t tell if he was going for Foghorn Leghorn or Tom Hanks in The Ladykillers, either way it didn’t work. I was able to look past it but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t distracting.
As long as you’re able to get past the accent, there is a lot of fun to be had with Fast Charlie (2023).
Despite the accent, Brosnan’s charm, charisma, and quick humor still shine through, making it easy to get onboard with Charlie. He and Baccarin also have good chemistry together. They play off one another and deliver a believable evolution of their relationship over the course of the film. Also, though he had very limited time on screen, seeing James Caan in his last performance was a touch emotional, especially since you can see just how frail he is.
When it comes to the action, Fast Charlie (2023) also manages to deliver. It isn’t over the top and absurd but it also never makes you wait too long between action sequences. Director Philip Noyce is no stranger to the genre and it shows. While he doesn’t reinvent the wheel, Noyce also elevates things just enough to avoid falling into a “paint-by-numbers” trap.
Combining it all together gives us a lean and mean story packed with enough action to keep your attention, delivered in a tight 90 minutes.
If you have yet to see Fast Charlie (2023), consider this a recommendation to give it a watch.
So, if you have already seen Fast Charlie (2023), what did you think of it?
Let me know in the comments below or by reaching out to me on Bluesky!
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