18/12/25

Amazon Prime

The recent murders of film director Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, were tragic to say the very least. Reiner followed his own director father, Carl, into the world of entertainment, initially as an actor and latterly as a director, responsible for some of the most-loved films of the 1980s. His debut offering, This is Spinal Tap, is still perhaps my all-time favourite comedy and recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. Even if the long awaited sequel, The End Continues, wasn’t a patch on the original – how could it ever hope to be? – it was nevertheless warm, affectionate and highly enjoyable.

The news that the Reiners were killed by their son, Nick, was a chilling addition to an already horrible situation. I was, like many of Rob Reiner’s fans, appalled and bewildered by what happened. In the ensuing news investigation, I learned something that I had previously been unaware of: in 2015, Rob and Nick collaborated on a film project called Being Charlie, a drama based around their shared experiences of Nick’s addiction. Somehow, I had completely missed it. It only took a brief search to establish that the film is right there on Amazon Prime and – completist that I am – I decided I needed to see it.

Charlie (Nick Robinson) has just turned eighteen and he celebrates by walking out of the youth rehab centre he’s been based in for a while. As an afterthought, he heaves a large stone through the stained glass window of the church where it’s based and then thumbs a lift from a passing motorist. During a brief stopover at the driver’s home, he steals some of the drugs the man’s terminally-ill mother takes for cancer. 

Charlie, as you will no doubt have gathered, is completely out of control. He hooks up with his best friend, Adam (Devon Bostik), and the pair of them head straight to Adam’s place to get seriously off their heads. Mission accomplished, they drive to Charlie’s swish family home in Los Angeles, where he is confronted by his parents, David (Cary Elwes) and Liseanne (Susan Misner), who have come to the ends of their respective tethers and are more than ready to stage an intervention. David is currently running for the post of state governor and cannot afford any more bad publicity. Charlie must make a choice: enrol at an adult rehab centre or go to prison in Utah for damaging that window.

Charlie reluctantly accepts the former option but, once installed in his new home, under the watchful eye of the straight-talking Travis (Common), he hooks up with the rebellious Eva (Morgan Saylor) and it quickly becomes apparent that, while the two of them are passionate about each other, their relationship is mutually destructive.

What’s immediately evident in Being Charlie is that Rob gives his son free rein to express himself. The witty script, co-written by Nick and Matt Elisofon, explore the lead character’s mind set, his volatility, his doomed attempts to exert any measure of self-control. If his antics are sometimes loathsome, it’s made clear that he cannot change them, that he is a helpless victim of his own crazed impulses. Robinson is a charming and likeable actor, and makes me root for Charlie even when he does heinous things.

David, the character who most closely represents Rob, at first comes across as a callous jerk, determined to follow the ‘tough love’ route, because that’s the advice he’s been given by every expert he’s consulted. It’s only later in the story that his genuine love for his son – and his determination to do his best by him – finally comes across. But it’s also apparent that he’s in an impossible situation and vulnerable to whatever wild notion Charlie comes up with next.

Of course, in light of what happened between Rob and Nick in real life, the film’s conclusion makes for even more heartbreaking viewing. As it stands, it serves to shed some light on a situation that would eventually have devastating consequences. If, like me, you missed it on first release, here’s your chance to catch up – but be warned, it’s not an easy watch.

4 stars

Philip Caveney