The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman

(2013) ★★

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Impulsive Shia LaBeouf falls for Romanian cellist Evan Rachel Wood in Bucharest. Not the brightest backpacker on the planet, LaBeouf is also unlucky: his guiding-light mom (who’s dead, by the way) meant to say Budapest, not Bucharest. And Miss Wood’s possessive ex is violent crime boss Mads Mikkelsen.

Despite the desperate whimsy inherent in the set up, Charlie Countryman is no relation to Charlie St Cloud. Which is a bit weird in itself, since LaBeouf was briefly replaced by Zac Efron during filming, only to return. In a manic Gump-like turn, LaBeouf mainly reacts to the mayhem he attracts.

The funniest scenes involve deadbeat Brit boozers James Buckley and Rupert Grint, while the scary Mikkelsen and the amusingly cool Til Schweiger belong to a film that’s much tougher than this one ever intends to be. LaBeouf assumes they’re joking. “How do I look to you currently?” says the menacing Schweiger, softly, “serious or unserious?”

Certificate: 15

Duration: 104min

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