A tricky ground for an actor/actress to play is that of a mentally handicapped individual. As Robert Downey Jr. so famously said in Tropic Thunder (and while I laugh, there's an uncomfortable truth about it), "You never go full retard." For a person to play the part of a handicapped individual, you're treading that fine line. Are you embracing the part, truly discovering and showing what it is like to be that person? Or are you just pandering to an audience for sympathy, mimicking someone who doesn't deserve that treatment? One of the best examples came in 1968's Charly with actor Cliff Robertson -- a favorite of Just Hit Play -- winning the 1969 Best Actor's Academy Award for his performance of a man with the IQ of 59.
Living on his own in a small, poorly furnished one-room apartment and working as a janitor as a bakery, Charly Gordon (Robertson) is trying to make himself smarter. He is mentally challenge and with an IQ of just 59 struggles to adjust at times in a modern and often times unforgiving world. Charly has spent two years attending night school, learning from his teacher, Alice (Claire Bloom) how to read and write even if the process is slow-going. Alice approaches Charly one day with an offer. A team of doctors have developed a somewhat controversial medical surgery/procedure on the brain that makes the patient exponentially more intelligent. A genuinely good person who wants to improve himself, Charly is an ideal case study, and that's exactly what he is. He undergoes the surgery and slowly but surely starts to see improvement. There's so much in fact that he develops the intelligence of a genius. Something else awaits him though as he changes, something even a superior intellect could figure out or stop.
When I first watched this movie, I was curious mostly to see Robertson's Academy Award winning performance. He's one of my favorite actors, and I thought he never quite got his due. Revisiting the movie how many years later, I had forgotten how dark the movie is, how cynical its look at the real world really is. With the naivete and innocence of a child, Charly goes through life just trying. That's all. He tries. His co-workers rip him mercilessly for kicks, but he thinks they mean well. After his surgery, Charly sees a mentally challenged man working as a waiter laughed at by the crowd in a restaurant when he drops a tray of glasses. For any number of reasons, it is a difficult movie to watch, to see man's apparently inherent ability to be cruel for no apparent reason. Post-surgery, Charly asks 'Why would the people who would never dream of laughing at a blind or crippled man laugh at a moron?' It's a valid question and one without an easy answer.
Watching other Robertson movies, I think of The Devil's Brigade, PT 109, Too Late the Hero, Three Days of the Condor, action, war and thrillers. He's a really good actor and cool in all those movies (I have a way with words, don't I?), but this is his best performance by far. He walks that fine line between cliched and stereotype of playing a retarded man. His Charly is a believable person, not a caricature of what people think a mentally challenged individual would be. Above all else, you like this character. You're rooting for him to succeed, to better himself. He is as innocent as they come without a mean bone in his body. He brings Charly Gordon to life, and then when Charly does change as an individual, becoming "normal" (for lack of a better word, society's normal I guess), you believe that transformation too.
Where the movie succeeds most for me is the first hour where we get to know Charly before he undergoes his surgery. We see his tiny even depressing apartment with a small fridge, two chairs, a bed and a chalkboard where he writes his next day's activities. He goes to work where he thinks the people making fun of him are his best friends because he doesn't know any better. Charly goes to night school, learning to read and write, and ultimately goes through testing with Bloom's Alice and a team of doctors. One particularly effective bit has Charly "racing" a mouse named Algernon who's undergone the surgery, seeing who can complete a maze quicker. In a weird way, they become friends, but it works and makes sense. Above all else, Charly and his interactions with those around him feel genuine, and it keeps the movie grounded throughout.
The movie has its issues though, issues that keep it from being a classic. Director Ralph Nelson is undone at times by 1960s syndrome, or whatever you'd like to call the psychedelic elements of his story. The split screen effect feels dated now and serves no real purpose. A weird acid trip toward the end of the movie is truly bizarre as Charly lashes out, trying to discover the world in a way he's never seen. It's like the similar scene in Easy Rider where Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper trip out on acid. A nightmare sequence near the finale is unsettling in a similar fashion, but in a positive sense that shows the struggles Charly is going through. And better or worse, the story drags some once Charly has undergone the surgery. It's not boring, but it's just not as interesting seeing the change in the character.
Rewatching the movie though, my issues are ultimately left behind because Robertson's lead performance as Charly Gordon is that good. It is an incredibly moving story that does do its fair share of pulling at your heart strings. You think you know where it's going, and then Nelson pulls the rug out from under you. He saves the biggest shock for last, one of the most powerful endings I can think of. Moving doesn't do enough to describe the effectiveness of the final shot, a freeze frame that stayed with me long after watching the movie. Great performance, almost great movie. You can watch the movie at Youtube, starting HERE with Part 1 of 11.
Robertson died recently, passing away on September 10, 2011. He was an underrated actor who didn't always get his due, and he will be missed.
Charly (1968): *** 1/2 /****
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