jonny-johnston
I really don't see why so many people are slamming this movie for its admittedly formulaic style. its a teen comedy, why are you expecting edgy scripts and high class thespians? its a piece of light relief intended to amuse for a couple of hours! the film itself may not have the most original of premises and DUH its not realistic that failing to reply to your call up for military service probably won't have you taken away from your bride on the wedding day - its called a plot device, yeah? the fact remains that it is a genuinely funny movie that certainly matches eurotrip or American pie for sheer quirkiness. it has some moments that don't perhaps gel so well but overall its a good film that will provide you with a few proper laugh-out-loud moments. Don't watch it and expect it to change your life, but do expect it to challenge your stereotypes of chocolate cuckoos cheese and neutrality. Switzerland is still very much a "traditional" society where women aren't as well respected as men and there is a bit of gender inequality and this is highlighted. the military is seen by many swiss people as a period where they have to turn up yeah, but the weekends are a huge excuse for getting drunk/stoned with your squad-mates and this film shows this admirably. Great cinema no. Funny? hell yes.
zangorn
I have no idea why the Swiss themselves seem to dislike the film. I work in the industry, and when saw this, I was very pleasantly surprised. I only understood the subtitles, as is the case for almost all foreign films with me, and this was by far one of the funniest. So, I'm not really doing a fair comparison to Hollywood films. But if I was, I'd say it was somewhere between Eurotrip meets American pie in terms of quality and comedic value. In terms of Swiss films, its by the far the best and only Swiss film I've ever seen.Its the closest I've ever been to the Swiss army, but from what I understand, its a joke. And this film makes a great parody of it. Plus there is a token romance in it, Romeo and Juliet style, very tense.
Halbwolf
If you served in the Swiss Army, you WILL recognize yourself in this movie... and will enjoy watching it. You get the feeling of: "Yeah, that's how it is... oh, yes, I remember that exercise... That guy is just like our CO (or whoever)... oh, yeah, the Grenadier vs. Füsilier antagonism..." and so on.. If you never did serve in the Swiss Army, you probably won't understand half the jokes... and then the movie is just plain boring.This comedy is decidedly Swiss. You have to know the Swiss Army to understand it.I loved it, but I did serve. (I recognized myself most in the character of Korporal Wyss...) Most of my friends who are not Swiss or managed to worm out of military training didn't think it fun... not because it was inaccurate, but because they didn't understand the context.
rutger1
The main problem with "...Charlie.." is, that' it is a cynical movie to its bones. It is funny, it is smart, but it's also a product of some coke-sniffing talents in Switzerland. This ain't no real movie with no soul. It's a product. A very good product indeed.If you have fun watching it, that's OK, so did I.But the people who produced this movie did not want to produce a good movie, they wanted to get in the business, to make money, to touch women, they could never never never never touch.It's awful to watch a movie like "Achtung..." in comparison to a movie like "Festen" or "Angst essen Seele auf" but it's better than nothing.Or... no... "nothing" could be better than this soulless, heartless cynical piece of success.People without heart and soul, please stop making movies.Thank You
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