Charlie’s Angels (2000)

Elevator Pitch: Three charming and smart young women, Natalie, Dylan and Alex,  are working as private detectives for “Charlie” a man who is never seen, but assisted by Bosley his man on the site, so to speak. They are hired to rescue Eric Knox, a software genius who has been kidnapped, and once on the case soon fulfil the task. But they find that the whole thing was a scam, and that they are the targets of Knox’s efforts to locate Charlie who he thinks has killed his father. The Angels are therefore required to fight for their lives, as well as rescuing Bosley and protecting Charlie from his nemesis. 

Content: There is no sex or nudity, although a lot of tight clothing is worn some of it a bit revealing. Some drinking and smoking. In the pre-title set piece the Angels prevent a bomber from blowing up a plane by sky diving him out of the door and landing in a speedboat.  There-after many martial arts fights, apparently they call it “wire fu”. Also some chases through the streets on foot, and on one occasion in racing cars. A break in to a heavily protected computer room (for some reason) and a bit of scuba diving. One scene where Alex pretends to be a management guru, acting like a domatrix, very funny.

A View: I used to watch the TV series, but can’t remember what it was like, but it was said to be more dramatic. Really this film was little more than an opportunity to have the stars dress sexily. Cameron Diaz wears very tight trousers, Lucy Liu, tight trousers and Drew Barrymore trousers.  But it more or less gained the approval of the critics and made money, although Roger Ebert gave it half a star. I found the extended Kung Fu fights a bit tiresome but it had a plot and a conclusion, so maybe a watch for nothing – even with your granny.

Additional Info: Apparently Lucy Liu was paid $1 million, Drew Barrymore $9 million and Cameron Diaz $12 million. No wonder she was smiling.