Rating: 
Summary: Charlotte Gray
Review: First, the negative points. With those out of the way, we proceed with the meat. The director should have eliminated the very appropriate criticisms of languages and accents in the dialog. Hey, with closed captions we can make clear what is said without sacrificing the accents that lend authenticity.
LET THE GERMANS SPEAK GERMAN (WHICH THEY DID) AND THE FRENCH SPEAK FRENCH (WHICH THEY DID NOT) AND THE ENGLISH SPEAK ENGLISH (WHICH THEY MORE OR LESS DID SPEAK). AND WITH THESE FAIRLY SIMPLE PROBLEMS, SOLVE THEM. USE LANGUAGES AND TRANSLATIONS AND INSINUATIONS AS THEY SHOULD BE USED. DO NOT ASK THE VIEWER TO SUSPEND ALL PERCEPTIONS OF REALITY.
Rating: 
Summary: This is a wonderful movie
Review: Gillian Armstrong is one of my favorite directors - one of the first women directors to "make it" in the system - from her hit MY BRILLIANT CAREER - right on to this vastly underrated film with the spectacular Cate Blanchett. A stunning subject - a woman's view of WW2 from the point of view of a Scottish lass parachuted in to help the French Resistance. Hollywood will never make this kind of movie, so thank god for the European funders who backed this film. This is an important view of history from a different point of view and a very compelling and strong piece of work. Don't miss it! Some critics loved it and I say, TWO THUMBS UP!
Rating: 
Summary: Dripping with Cliched Emotions
Review: Gillian Armstrong utilises her talents to the full in this truly dreadful film. All her hallmarks, so wonderfully showcased in the appalling 'Oscar and Lucinda', are on display once again. Characters with all the depth and complexity of shop window mannequins, are seen from all angles (thanks to cameras mounted in helicopters and on other forms of whirling apparatus) and in all manner of hackneyed situations, unveiling one earnest emotion after the next. Mercifully, my friend and I managed to survive the film without falling victim to coincident cerebro-vascular accidents or some other fatal misfortune, because it would be regrettable to have this schmalzy garbage as one's last memory of this world.
*
The cinematography is striking, as is Ms.Kate Blanchett. She wears a thrilling parade of French couture throughout the film, changing costume with a frequency that would make Barbara Streisand envious. Her hair, despite wartime shortages, is also in immaculate condition and coiffure, and her make up is simply to die for. She rides a bicycle with aplomb, and points a gun manfully. Described early on as a most cunning linguist, she manages to speak English with a Scottish, an Australian, a fishy (or was that Vichy?) French, and quite possibly an Icelandic, accent: this feat in itself upstages the accomplishments of Meryl Streep, who needed a fully half dozen movies in order to employ all her complement of accents. Billy Crudup only manages the regulation American, the botched English, and the wan French. Still, he bests the rest of the cast, who don't bother attempting any accent at all.
*
The story's engine is love. Kate meets a likely lad, a Royal Air Force chap in fact, one night at a soiree and ends up sharing a misty window pane with him the next morning, after a spot of wartime bedroom desperation. He goes off to fight, and she, determined to be brave, follows. Admirable indeed - a jolly capable young filly, what ho! In occupied France she meets villains (boo! hissss!) and heroes (one can almost hear the Marseillaise playing in the background) and she is drawn to the latter and repels the former, God what! You can guess the rest from here. The music swells (as did I), the tears run (as did my friend - out of the theatre), and highly manipulative and distressingly bad cinema is the result. Hopefully Ms.Armstrong with collaborate with Mr.Spielberg in the near future, for something unequivocally nauseating.
*
While the cost of the DVD is quite reasonable, I would willingly pay many times this amount in order to avoid seeing this film.
Rating: 
Summary: GOOD-LOOKING BUT SPARKLESS PERIOD PIECE
Review: Having loved "Shining Through" for half my life, I am enamored with romance tales set in the frantic times of war. Charlotte Gray had so much potential, it's a great-looking and atomospheric film with well-shot scenery and transporting period pieces, but it's allowed to wither away under lethargic pacing and a painfully diffuse screenplay.
Blanchett pitches in a disarming performance as Charlotte. For a spy she sure cries a lot but does well to get herself out of a pinch. When the hero of the film, played quite handsomely by Billy Crudup, tucks away two Jewish boys at a crumbling shed (ice-cold cliche alert) she becomes the unofficial nanny. In short, she gets to enjoy 1940s women empowerment while also being fussily maternal, bringing a warm human dimension to wartime spy games.
Problem is, we stumble from antic to dull antic without much focus and even our wondrous heroine can't help feeling equally confused, summing it all up perfectly with "I don't know what I'm doing here anymore".
I still give it three stars for dabbling in rewarding themes, such as questioning the meaning of bravery or acknowledging how war's extremes can be transforming, but the campy dialogue doesn't help much. All too often the film's Wise Ideas sound like they came straight from chinese fortune cookies, like "War makes fools of us all. The rest it kills". Um, ok.
Sad waste of some great talent and a stirring score by none other than John Barry.
Rating:
Summary: Good period piece
Review: Having not read Sebastian Faulks' book, I cannot compare the film with it. It seems it must have been a rather long novel, with lots of characters in it, and plenty going on. It seems the film attempts to stay faithful to the book, and so the impression one gets is that the director tried to compress a complex and multi-layered story into a couple of hours.
The story is good but very predictable bordering sometimes on caricature. But nonetheless it is all very entertaining and the actors are good. It reminded of the older 1950's and 1960's war
movies, very far removed from the new and very realistic wartime dramas ("Band of brothers,...).
Certainly worth watching.
Rating:
Summary: Cate..your fabulous!
Review: I love Cate Blanchett - and the movie gets an extra star because, well...it has Cate Blanchett in it. She is mesmerizing in any role that she is in and she is always well placed in a period piece like this. That being said - the story is quite a let down, many of the situations are contrived and there are plot holes you could drive a Panzer Tank through. Combine this with the lack of any really new ideas from other (better) done WWII spy movies and the result is a flat movie whose female Director emphasizes the romantic elements of the characters rather than deliver on a taught, suspenseful thriller one would expect.
Rating:
Summary: swoon!
Review: I LOVED this movie. From the second it started, with its gorgeous shots of French lilacs or lavender or whatever beautiful purple flower they are, & its sublime musical score by Stephen Warbeck, I was hooked. Cate Blanchett is always dependably good, but she really shines here. Her role is that rare thing- a woman who is not a doormat, a girlfriend, a hooker, or a nun, and she never gets naked. How refreshing! Plus, it's directed by a woman- too cool! I found the love story between the characters of Charlotte Gray & Peter Gregory very believable & terribly romantic, and, as it should, it drives the film to its logical conclusion- a heartbreaking one. Indeed several scenes in this film made my eyes well up with tears. I also appreciated how Charlotte's experiences with loss weren't just glossed over, as in most movies I've seen where someone loses a loved one and by the next scene they're back to normal. Ms. Blanchett is to be commended for bringing that bit of true humanity to her character. It's just an all around beautifully made film, and I admire everyone involved in the making of it. The director's commentary is also very good and worth listening to, however she gives A LOT away, including parts of the book that weren't included in the film. She does a good job of answering her critics during her commentary, particularly speaking about her reasons for having the characters speak English, which originally struck me as a bit odd, but her reasons are legitimate, and, after all "Chocolat" & "Schindler's List," to name just two, are in English & nobody complained about that. One minor thing that I found annoying, though, was the quality of the disc's supplemental materials- they misspelled...both Cate Blanchett's & novelist Sebastian Faulks' names- shame on them!
Rating:
Summary: This is an excellent film.
Review: I really don't understand what all these dungful reviews are about. This film is positively superb. The cinematography is gorgeous, the music wonderful, the casting and acting--perfect, and the screenplay and plot--very very good. (Possible Spoilers) The characters developed very well, and the ultimate romance of the movie was cleverly thought out. The 'initial' romance felt a little rushed to me, but I would not say it was unbelievable. It is not hard to imagine how relationships might develop quicker than normal under desparate circumstances. I intend to own this DVD and watch it again and again. Cate Blanchett and costars--you all did a fine job! Thank you for sharing your gifts with us.
Rating: 
Summary: Lengthy... Meandering Plot
Review: I wanted to like Charlotte Gray. I'm a big fan of war stories, but I found this film to be drawn out, and at times tedious. Charlotte is a Scotswoman, selected to become a spy in war-torn France. When her cover is almost blown, she is hidden away in a remote farm playing mommy to two orphan boys. While I enjoyed the cinematography, I didn't care for Charlotte's character. Her romance with the pilot seemed superficial to me. Her convictions to help France, had all the genuineness of a dogma spouting cultist. And, I'm sorry... But if I were selected to be a spy, I would hope I'd do more than play housekeeper. Come on Girl! I had to give up half way through the movie. I just couldn't muster the interest to finish it. Perhaps if the story had been a little tighter and the characters a little more engaging....? Overall, I was disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: What's the beef?
Review: I was thoroughly moved by this film. What's the problem of having the actors speak English in France? A little unrealistic but...most Americans aren't fluent in both languages. I'd much rather have it in English than have to read subtitles the entire time. If you want more historical accuracy, go watch a documentary. Look at the title. This movie is about a woman's journey. I thought there was just enough historical relevancy to suit the film's purposes. The plot is inspiring and always taking an unexpected turn. The relationships develop quickly but are strong. Maybe I'm melodramatic, but I'd watch this movie again and again and again...
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