I first saw 'Charly' when I was a kid and liked it very much, most probably because I saw it from a sci- fi angle. (Mentally challenged guy gets syrum that turns him into a brilliant thinker, but it's transitory.) Now, years later, the film seems dated and disturbing for numerous wrong reasons.
Cliff Robertson in the lead commits himself to the part 100%, but he overplays the infantile Charly (very SNL-like) and relies too heavily on sex appeal when he's supposed to be smart. Claire Bloom plays the doctor who falls in love with him, but only after he's 'cured,' i.e. Sophisticated. And Lilia Skala and Dick Van Patten, of all people, play the doctors who have no arc to their characters but to provide a devil's advocate for Bloom.
Then there is the biker stuff, an embarrassing montage. Which is quickly followed by a mod disco dancing sequence. Well, yes, it was 1968 after all, but the film would benefit from deleting both these silly sequences.
I'm of two minds about Ravi Shankar's musical score: it's sometimes intrusive and yet sometimes very original and interesting.
Also, the film is dated by the use and overuse of the politically incorrect word 'retard,' so be warned if things like that offend you or make you squirm.
Overall, I found the film dramatically slack and overrated. Ron Moody should've won the Best Actor Oscar for "Oliver!" instead of Robertson. What Moody did was a once in a lifetime gig.
Cliff Robertson in the lead commits himself to the part 100%, but he overplays the infantile Charly (very SNL-like) and relies too heavily on sex appeal when he's supposed to be smart. Claire Bloom plays the doctor who falls in love with him, but only after he's 'cured,' i.e. Sophisticated. And Lilia Skala and Dick Van Patten, of all people, play the doctors who have no arc to their characters but to provide a devil's advocate for Bloom.
Then there is the biker stuff, an embarrassing montage. Which is quickly followed by a mod disco dancing sequence. Well, yes, it was 1968 after all, but the film would benefit from deleting both these silly sequences.
I'm of two minds about Ravi Shankar's musical score: it's sometimes intrusive and yet sometimes very original and interesting.
Also, the film is dated by the use and overuse of the politically incorrect word 'retard,' so be warned if things like that offend you or make you squirm.
Overall, I found the film dramatically slack and overrated. Ron Moody should've won the Best Actor Oscar for "Oliver!" instead of Robertson. What Moody did was a once in a lifetime gig.