Charly (1968)

Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

I did not like this movie at all. The only good part in this movie for me was Cliff Robertson, he did a really good job with his mannerisms. He really did seem like a different person before and after the operation.I watched the movie because of Flowers for Algernon but it only shares names and the basic premise with the book. The movie doesn't really show any understanding of the book. The movie is almost 2 hours long, and yet everything seems so rushed. Ideas are thrown at you but we don't really experience them. In the book changes are gradual at first and the process speeds up. In the movie everything just happens, he gets an operation and becomes a genius. Then just as quickly he loses it, like literally in the middle of a sentence. The movie also really missed out on showing the intellectual and emotional implications shown in the novel. In the novel Charly has an intellectual awakening. He becomes so smart that he passes everyone up. This leads him to see that people all have a limit to what they know. Because of this he feels people are like frauds, pretending to be something they are not. It angers him scientists only know about certain things. On the emotional side his intelligence quickly and vastly surpasses his emotional understanding. He can not relate to people or understand them. As he becomes a genius, he is not even at the level of an adolescent, emotionally speaking. The idea of love is not one that he can truly understand until almost the very end. In the movie, ugh they just throw a love story at us without reason. I mean what in the movie can explain why his teacher would fall in love with him. She just does. It shows Charly become sexually awakened, then he is forceful on her, leaves and seems to develop relationships with many women, and comes back and they are in love. It really makes no sense, even ignoring the novel.

Perhaps it's wishful thinking, but there are many people who wish they could learn as much as anyone else. It's sad and downright tragic when you realize you're incapable of advancing common knowledge or higher education. Some are gifted, some are slow and some are just plain retarded and will never comprehend what is being taught. But what if there was a way? What if science could remedy what nature restricted in the human brain? That is the premise for the movie " Charly. " It tells the story of an adult retarded man named Charley Gordon (Cliff Robertson, 1968 Academy Award winner) who is mentally incapable of surmounting even simple challenges like spelling the word 'School.' Inside him is a deep desire to learn, but is mentally unable. That all changes when two brilliant scientists conceive of a medical procedure which can transform, first a mouse, then a human being into not only a educated individual, but a mental genius. Based on the novel "Flowers for Algernon" Cliff Robertson gives a brilliant and visually haunting performance of the retarded man who is suddenly transformed into a genius. Not only does he 'see' better than most, he's able to visualize what escapes even the most sophisticated in society. What he also sadly realizes is that 'increased intelligence equals loss of friends.' Beginning with the ability to learn and learn quickly, his advanced knowledge also unfortunately reveals his own future, a future he confronts the two doctors with. This is a must picture for anyone who'd like to see the man beat the mouse and yet have sympathy for both. A superb cast featuring Claire Bloom, Lilia Skala, Leon Janney and Dick Van Patten as Bert makes for a believable Classic movie. ****

Cliff Robertson acting job for playing Charly Gordon is amazing. It is a must see movie, just for that reason alone. The movie shows what it is like to live in the world of a mentally handicapped person. It shows how our society treats those people. It shows how Charly changes into a well, and very intelligent person. It also shows the friendship Charly has with the mouse. Who is the first to have the brain operation. Which is designed to improve the function of the brain. Also it shows the love Charly develops for this teacher Clair. However in the conclusion. The brain operation which made him a mentally well person, is a failure in the end. Sad ending of the movie. However the movie is considered a classic in my mind. Very well put together, and very well acted. I haven't read the book, this movie is based on.

"I want to be smarter, just so I could get a little closer, you know?" Charly GordonMade in the days when doctors smoked cigarettes, this is Cliff Robertson's brilliant portrayal of a man isolated from society by an IQ of 69 who through a brain operation becomes a genius.Robertson won a well-deserved Oscar for Best Actor in 1968 for his part in this wonderful and inspiring film, and it's a great movie, albeit on a "b-movie" budget. But entwined in its message is a dark reflection on how society treats people who are mentally handicapped.Charly is the nicest guy you would ever meet, considerate of all, kind, but simple and naïve. Everyone around him either laughs at him or is condescending toward him. No one sees him as a man, not even a human being, just whatever they label him as - "dumb-assed janitor", or just plain "moron". Then he gets his operation and becomes the smartest man on Earth, but still he is labeled, and still he is isolated.What I got most from this film is not a clinical study of mental retardation but the way society deals with mental retardation, and in this the film soars, and it will bring a tear or two if you have even a bit of humanity. It is a wonderful film, on many levels, testing us all on how we deal with those who are so unfortunate as to be mentally handicapped.In "Charly", society doesn't win in the end, but the movie does! 9 out of 10.