This movie has a lot going for it: big names like Evan Rachel Wood, Vincent D’Onofrio, Aubrey Plaza, Rupert Grint, Mads Mikkelsen, Melissa Leo. And also Shia LaBeouf. Okay, truth be told, it’s a lot of LaBeouf. Mostly LaBeouf. And I realize he’s not exactly anyone’s idea of Hollywood’s It kid right now.
What happened to Shia LaBeouf? Admit it – his eagerness and enthusiasm in his first Transformers performance was contagious. He was instantly a star, ranking #6 on The 25 Hottest Actors Under 25 and earning studios a very impressive $160 for every $1 paid to 
him. But as quickly as his star rose, so began his descent. The very next year he was arrested on a DUI at the scene of an accident where luckily the only injury was his own (he required extensive hand surgery which forced a pause in production of Transformers 2). And then: bar fights, drunkenness, badmouthing movies and costars, boasting about conquests that put other people’s relationships in jeopardy, headbutting strangers, chasing the homeless, making fans cry, live-tweeting LSD trips. He dropped out of a Broadway play starring Alec Baldwin and then trolled him from the front row during a performance. I mean, who else would even try to out-Baldwin a Baldwin? He got caught plagiarizing, then attempted to apologize for it by hiring a skywriter far away from where the victim lived. These were bad years, and there wasn’t a single person who didn’t distance themselves from him. Heck, even the 
Transformers franchise was handed over to Marky Mark, and Indiana Jones given back to a septuagenarian. But then came even worse years,the paper bag years. In an effort to insist he “wasn’t famous anymore”, he wore paper bags over his head to red carpet events and on talk shows. In an effort to reframe his erratic behaviour as “performance art”, he staged increasingly bizarre events – during one “show” he lived in an art gallery for 5 days during which people lined up to spend 1 hour alone in a room with him while he sat in perfect silence, often soaking the paper bag on his head with tears. He would later claim that a woman raped him during her hour and he did nothing to stop it in order to preserve the integrity of the piece. Then he live-streamed himself watching 
all 29 of his movies back to back in a Manhattan theatre (he cried then too). And just this February he spent 24 hours in an elevator. Because, duh, it’s art. Meanwhile, I’m wondering where the hell his mother is. This man is clearly suffering and Hollywood is not known for coming to anyone’s rescue. In fact, this tabloid culture in which we are living feeds off of young people’s breakdowns.
Shia, if you’re reading: I’m sorry you’re hurting. I can’t pretend to know what it does to a person’s head to have so much power and money and fame. You need a break, and we have a spare bedroom. I’m a therapist, and so are 3 of my 4 dogs. Come have a rest.
To the rest of you: Charlie Countryman is plagued, but not by Shia LaBeouf. He’s clearly giving it everything he’s got, but it’s not enough to save this mess. He plays a young, 
grieving guy who flies to Bucharest to shakes his blues but instead finds himself drawn to a woman with an intoxicating accent. She’s bad news, as evidenced by the many iterations of the film’s title – you may find it called Kill Charlie Countryman, or The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman. Either way, you know she’s going to get him killed, but she’s beautiful, aloof, and dangerous, so how can he resist?
The director tries to be kinetic and offbeat but it’s overcooked and comes off more as emo. It’s like the director was pretty sure this is the only film he’d ever get his grubby little hands on, so he used up every trick in his bag, and his bag was a student backpack. Charlie 
Countryman is watchable, but it would be hard to mistake it as good.
Shia LaBeouf, on the other hand, is likely a good person going through a hard time. Looking at his rap sheet, it’s easy to mistake tragedy for comedy, but it’s clear his spiral is still trending downward and that he’s unable to save himself. The big sister in me just wants to give him a hug and a cookie and say “Shia, eneouf is eneouf.”
ASSHOLES WATCHING MOVIES 
I knew Shia had done some bizarre things, but I didn’t know just how bizarre. I agree–he’s wrestling with something. That seems to go beyond just trying to get attention as an actor.
Too bad the movie isn’t better. You know I like me some Mads Mikkelsen. He was such a good Hannibal Lector I kept watching the TV series even when I didn’t like it anymore.
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I’d say he’s the best thing in this movie.
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Go Mads.
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Blimey he does need help! What does the 4th dog do? 🙂
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I know, he seems like quite a leech,doesn’t he? Not quite pulling his weight. He’s just the baby though, too rambunctious to provide therapeutic visits to retirement homes as the others do.
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Doggy’s are so kind. My moggy isn’t lol. 😊
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I thought this one was a tad frustrating, but I did enjoy it for Shia’s performance as the ever enthusiastic and tenacious Charlie. I also hope Shia manages to get himself back on track – I quite like him.
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I know, I think we all still want to like him, it’s just getting harder because all this other stuff obscures him.
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Hehe. Well, damn… You’ve kind of made me feel bad for Shia! 🙂
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I still remember him from his Disney Channel days. As the little brother. What Hollywood does to child actors…
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I would hate to see someone I didn’t like spiral out of control like this, and in spite of everything I like LeBeouf. I even find the art stunts kind of admirable, assuming he’s trying to carve out a niche for himself in an industry that only praises iconoclasts when they’re old or odd-looking or both.
He deserves better and it’s a shame this film wasn’t it.
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Sad to hear the problems of being young, rich and famous. Almost all fall apart and some never return to normal. We liked his interesting and mysterious movie which was popular with teens. He thought his neighbor is a killer while he is unable to leave the yard due to ankle bracelet. My youngest daughter and I liked him from this beginning to be famous role. I could look it up but many will remember it. I appreciate the review and may get it when it comes to Redbox or library. I finally saw The Danish Girl, Spotlight, Pan, The Girl in the Book, A Walk in the Woods and Testament of Youth. I still have a wide variety of films like Carol, Suffragette and Room to see. Thanks for being my “movie Muse,” Jay. 🙂
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Disturbia is the one you’re thinking of, I believe, and yes, it was right before he broke out big.
Seems like you’ve seen a lot of good movies lately!!
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Interesting post, but not as interesting as reading that your dogs make therapeutic visits to retirement homes. They now have a special place in my heart. You brought ’em up well, girl!
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Turns out, dogs are especially welcome in dementia wards. They get extra cuddles there.
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Apparently Shia LaBeouf was on acid while filming this movie as well which I thought, contributed positively to his performance. But I thought it was a little undercooked too and it didnt really stay with me. But I did like the performances from LaBeouf, Mads Mikkelsen and Evan Rachel Wood
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I really liked this movie, but Shia…man, what is going on with him? It’s like he’s trying to 1 UP each act of weirdness with the next.
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He really was good in the first Transformers movie. And nothing was going to save that Indiana Jones movie. It’s sad to see someone go downhill so quickly.
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Wanted to every trick in his bag and that bag was a student backpack. That’s gold my friend.
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