Charlie Countryman (2013)
2013
Action / Comedy / Drama / Romance / Thriller
Charlie Countryman (2013)
2013
Action / Comedy / Drama / Romance / Thriller
Plot summary
From Wikipedia:Charlie Countryman, a man living in Chicago, is distraught after the death of his mother Kate. At the hospital, he sees her as a spirit and asks her what he should do with his life. She replies by telling him to go to Bucharest because she believes it seems right to do. On the flight, he meets Victor, an elderly man sitting next to him, who is returning home to Bucharest after seeing a Cubbies game, with a silly hat as a gift for his daughter. Partway through the plane ride, Victor dies, and Charlie sees him too as a spirit, who asks him to deliver his gift to his daughter, which he promises to do.Arriving at the airport, he is hassled over the hat by the authorities, but eventually meets Victor's daughter, Gabi, whom he falls instantly in love with. After he gives her Victor's gift, they part. While in a taxi, he finds Gabi in her car on the side of the road. She tells him she can't keep up with the ambulance containing her father's body, and he offers to help catch up to them. While engrossed in playful banter they collide with the speeding ambulance truck, crashing and flipping over, with Victor's body flying out of it. Gabi and Victor's body is taken to the hospital by another ambulance, leaving her car with Charlie. Gabi's car does not start immediately and Charlie is unable to follow the ambulance. After neighborhood kids help jump start the car Charlie decides to take the car to Bucharest opera house where Gabi performs as a cellist. In the car Charlie finds a revolver in Gabi's purse, inscribed 'For my darling Gabi, Love forever Nigel'. Gabi soon calls her cell phone and instructs Charlie to look for a man name Bela. Bela puts Charlie in an empty opera box. Charlie falls asleep and wakes up to a opera performance. He also sees Gabi emotionally playing her cello in orchestra pit. Following the performance, Gabi is confronted by her estranged and unstable husband, Nigel. Gabi suddenly spots Charlie walking by, and Nigel notices and questions him aggressively. Gabi lies that Charlie is a gay tuba player, after which Nigel leaves.Charlie arrives at a hostel and meets his roommates, Karl and Luc. After partying for a while, Charlie enters the bathroom and encounters Nigel, who was waiting inside to apologize for his earlier behavior and mildly threatens Charlie. After departing, Charlie then sees Gabi leaving the hostel after dropping off his belongings left in her car. They spend the night out, sharing fond memories of each others parents. Later, they part ways with Gabi telling him that if he finds her the next day, she will kiss him. Exhilarated, Charlie begins running down the street when he is suddenly hit by a cab. The cab driver takes him to the hospital. Hours later, back at the hostel, Charlie wakes up to find out that Karl has taken too much Viagra, and they go to a club seeking to ease Karl's discomfort. This results in Karl having a sexual climax in front of the strippers, who then call the bouncers to have them taken to the manager's office. The trio are shocked to find their bill is deliberately overcharged due to Karl's incident, as explained by the manager, Darko. Darko notices that Charlie is staring nervously at a picture of Nigel and Gabi on the wall. Darko aggressively questions Charlie about Nigel. Charlie bargains with Darko, in exchange for providing information on Nigel they wouldn't have to pay the bill. Darko gives Charlie his phone number and they leave. Realizing that it's morning Charlie goes to the Bucharest opera house in the hopes of seeing Gabi.Later on that evening Bela notices Charlie sleeping on the opera house steps and wakes him up. After being begged, Bela reluctantly takes Charlie to Gabi's house, were a memorial party is being held for Victor. Gabi takes Charlie to the attic to kiss him. Charlie tells Gabi about his encounter with Darko. Later on, Nigel unexpectedly shows up. He spots Charlie and while holding a broken glass to his neck, aggressively confronts him on not being a gay tuba player and being attracted to Gabi all along. Gabi forces Nigel to leave by firing a warning shot at him. After the party, Gabi tells Charlie how she met Nigel. Although Gabi loved Nigel it was a mistake marrying him. Gabi realized too late that Nigel was an active criminal. At some point Victor found an incriminating tape to use against Nigel to force him to leave the country. It worked until Victor's death; now Nigel wants the tape. Charlie then confesses that he is in love with Gabi, they make love.The next morning, Charlie finds Gabi gone and a note telling him to not leave the house. Charlie explores the house and discovers a room filled with tapes, specifically one that's labeled "Cubbies". The tape turns out to be the blackmail footage Victor found. It shows Nigel and Darko killing a group of people at a restaurant. A disturbed Charlie leaves the house and finds Gabi and Nigel at a nearby restaurant. He approaches them and explains that he "saw the tape." Nigel violently interrogates Charlie until the police arrive and take Charlie away. At the station Bela bribes the police to not press charges but instead take Charlie to Budapest. Upon arrival at the hostel to get his belongings, he is alerted by the presence of Nigel's associates. They chase Charlie to a subway, where he escapes and runs back to Gabi's home to find the tape missing. He finds Darko and his men waiting for him, showing Karl and Luc's backs glued together outside. Gabi calls Darko regarding the tape, prompting Darko to leave the house.Charlie waits for Gabi at the Opera House, where she tells him that she doesn't want to see him again and says goodbye. She goes to her car with Nigel, who has the tape and intends to destroy it so that life with Gabi can continue. A saddened Charlie once again speaks to the ghost of his mother, who says that she is proud of him and hopes he doesn't die. After she disappears, he runs to Gabi's car and attempts to stop Nigel, only to be knocked unconscious. He wakes, hanging from a rope by his ankle above a boat dock. Nigel burns the tape and prepares to shoot Charlie, but decides to let Gabi do it. She ends up sparing Charlie just as the cops arrive. Charlie is dropped into the lake and survives, and Nigel commits suicide by cop. The film ends with Karl and Luc finally being separated from the super glue, and Charlie and Gabi finally together.