GOODBYE CHARLIE BRIGHT DVD FEATURES Region Reviewed: Region 2 Number of Discs: 1 Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Picture: 16:9 Anamorphic Special Features: Interactive Menu, Scene Access, Trailer Commentary With Director Nick Love, Cast/Crew Interviews, B-Roll Footage, Production Notes, Storyboards. Trailer: Real format (various res)

Goodbye Charlie Bright Plot: GOODBYE CHARLIE BRIGHT is the humorous and heartwarming story of the friendship between two teenage boys from a south London council estate. Set during a long, hot summer it charts their close but volatile relationship as it reaches breaking point and ultimately changes forever. (from the official site)

Goodbye Charlie Bright Review: A film that starts out quite positive ends up being a major dissapointment, which is a shame because Goodbye Charlie Bright could have been a great movie up there with the likes of TwentyFourSeven and A Room For Romeo Brass. Unfortunately, Charlie Bright only shares the subject matter and not the sheer genius workings of the two aforementioned movies.

Set during the British summertime, the film explores life for a group of teenagers on a South London council estate. It centers around two central characters, Charlie (Paul Nicholls) and Justin (Roland Manookian) and the relationship between them. Charlie is the young lad that wants to pull away from his trapped surroundings, only Justin, who has not a lot going for him, always manages to mess things up for him.

Here, we have a great British cast line up, even though three of the actors have appeared in popular London based soap Eastenders (Nicholls, Richard Driscoll and Nicola Stapleton). We have Paul Nicholls, see in moderate domestic hit The Trench, who plays Charlie Bright, the excellent Danny Dyer (seen in recent hit Mean Machine opposite Vinnie Jones), relative newcomer Roland Manookian as Justin, or 'wife' as he is referred to in the film as he and Charlie are constantly hanging out together. The two main talnts are totally wasted here. We have Phil Daniels who plays local psycho Eddy who does well with the material (and there are even hints of that breakout performance as nutcase Richards in Scum), but he really isn't given enough chance to let go and develop the role. The second let down is the lack of screen time for the fantastic Frank Harper, best known for his role as Dog in Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels. This guy is destined for better things and he does well here too.

The direction and script from Nick Love are average, which really sums up the rest of the film. It's one of those movies that are great in places, but let down in too many others.

Could have been so much more.


Goodbye Charlie Bright Disc Review: A dissapointing disc for a dissapointing movie. The Nick Love director's commentary is okay, as too are the cast interviews, but ther than that we're left with just the bog standard cast/ crew biogs, trailer and 'B' Roll footage. Not a lot on offer at all.

The picture quality is easily the best thing about the disc, which complements Love's use of bright colours throughout the film. I can't say the same thing about the sound though. It is Dolby 5.1, but you might just as well turn off you rear surround speakers, as there's not a lot going on back there at all.


Overall Rating - MOVIE: 4/10 - DISC: 5/10

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