Movie Recommendation: Charlie, the Lonesome Cougar
Oh yeah. Get your cougar fix here. Not that we cougars get a lot of screen time to begin with.
Within the first five minutes of The Lion King (murr), I was all misty-eyed. By this point in Charlie, the tears were rolling freely. And the waterworks continued all the way to the end credits an hour later. And the chuffs, growls, and low screams coming from me throughout the movie...not many films can do that. But then, not many no other animal can do that to me.
UltimateDisney.com has a good summary and some screenshots.
I've read some very unkind reviews of this film, but I think they are unwarranted. Yes, the acting is tepid. And yes, the story is highly contrived. And no, there is no CGI, flying shrapnel, car chases, or space battles. Most absurdly, someone docked the movie a full star from their rating because the DVD was not offered in Dolby 5.1 surround sound.
But then, if you're planning on watching *this* for the humans, screenplay, or whizz-bang sound, just what turnip truck did you fall off of?
It might seem a little dated, especially if you did not grow up with Walt's True Life Adventures series, and there are times (in regards to the animal actors' safety) where I found myself thinking "there's no way this could have been filmed today." But all that drops away when Charlie appears. And he clearly gets the lion's share of screen time...pun definitely intended. This is certainly not a supporting role for him.
It did get me to thinking: I wonder what happened to Charlie? It's easy enough to track the human actors' careers, but animal actors (unless they are really super famous like Lassie) tend to be forgotten quickly (if they are even given credit in the first place). It would sure be nice to find out what became of Charlie after this film.
Is it Citizen Kane? Of course not. Is it worth it for us cougar folk to curl up with a bowl of popcorn? Absolutely.