Charlie’s Angels *** (2000, Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, Lucy Liu, Bill Murray, Sam Rockwell, Kelly Lynch, Tim Curry, Crispin Glover, Luke Wilson, Matt LeBlanc) – Classic Movie Review 310

The famous Charlie’s Angels crime-fighting detective trio of Dylan Sanders, Alex Munday and Natalie Cook strives to rescue an electronics genius from an evil nemesis. With Drew Barrymore, Lucy Liu and Cameron Diaz as the stars, there’s a whole lot of girl power going on in director McG’s amusingly idiotic 2000 action comedy adventure Charlie’s Angels, based on the Seventies TV series by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts.

Director McG films it in music-video style at a breathlessly relentless pace and he backs all the slick visuals with lots of catchy music. A bit slack at times, Charlie’s Angels is not exactly a subtle movie but it is always easy-going fun. The three likable stars are great, both individually and with plenty of chemistry together too.

In the easy-going, thin-as-air story by Ryan Rowe, Ed Solomon and John August, the trio of gals have to retrieve stolen voice-ID software, using their irresistible armoury of their martial arts prowess, their technical skills and, most of all of course, their sex appeal.

An athletic, lovely-looking Diaz is quite dazzling in the show’s hit turn as Natalie and Bill Murray is wryly funny as John Bosley, the Angels’ mysterious boss. Sam Rockwell, Kelly Lynch, Tim Curry, Crispin Glover, Luke Wilson, Matt LeBlanc, Tom Green and L L Cool J flesh out an energetic, game-for-anything cast.

John Forsythe appears in voice only in his old TV role as mysterious boss Charlie Townsend.

It was followed by the more costly, far less successful Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle in 2003, putting a sudden end to the series. A reboot was planned for 2016, with Elizabeth Banks slated as director, Charlie’s Angels (2019), which was finally released on 15 November 2019 (US).

© Derek Winnert 2013 Classic Movie Review 310

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