Charly (1968)

Date	User	Rating
Oct 09, 2022	Zarkon	77 _44th
Very much a film adaptation reflecting its times, with jarring moments of psychedelic editing and sociopolitical disillusionment as an overt representation of Charly's intelligence. It's a much more quietly meditative work than Keyes' original text, which was written in the first person. Unfortunately, I think a lot was lost in this translation to film, in spite of Robertson's emotive moments.
Feb 24, 2020	mike365365	66 _53rd
Part of the portrayal is cringe worthy, however, I did like it.
Aug 29, 2015	Nilbog	70 _55th
Pretty excellent. I'm inspired to read the book now.
Jul 12, 2015	VengefulKBM	40 _16th
I know this is really well-loved and well-received, but for me, this adaptation of a story I love really drops the ball. Cliff Robertson's performance, while decent, is certainly not Oscar-worthy, and the whole thing becomes a bit unfocused and skips out on the most important part of the story (Charly's decline).
Feb 08, 2014	glumpy_99	72 _40th
Servicable drama can't make up its mind which story threads are the most interesting - is it a sci-fi tale about the dangers of playing god? A forbidden romance? A study of whether academic intelligence matters? By never really following up on any of these intriguing ideas, the film never really becomes satisfying, despite fine work from Robertson and Bloom. At times undermined and dated by over-utilising "trendy" film-making techniques of the time (eg. split screen and psychedelic imagery).
Apr 01, 2013	Trooth	68 _46th
Doesn't really probe the same dark areas as the novel, but I guess it's a serviceable adaptation.
Oct 04, 2012	DougieD	50 _15th
Starts out as an enjoyable drama about a mentally challenged man who finds himself turned into a genius after a scientific experiment. It all falls apart in the second half when the film turns into a tearjerker romance story as the main character falls in love and then finds himself going back to his former self. Cliff Robertson gives a great (oscar winning) performance, but it can't save the film from its bad writing.
Jun 17, 2010	filmdot	75 _27th
A fine film. Although, they left way too much out of the movie from the fantastic novel, "Flowers for Algernon." There were also very useless scenes and at times quite stupid. Cliff Robertson is fantastic here though.
Jan 20, 2010	SlrSoapbox	30 _8th
I was forced to watch this in 2nd grade. Why they decided to show a movie with such a horrifying premise and ending to a bunch of 7-year-olds I'll never understand.
Dec 23, 2009	aaaaaaarrggg	71 _73rd
Robertson won an Oscar for his fine work here as the title character. Often needlessly arty but is well-served by the performances of Robertson and Bloom.
Apr 30, 2009	Evan Waters	84 _29th
Robertson gives a good performance and it's a mostly strong adaptation of "Flowers For Algernon", but some really dated 60s "artistic" scenes in the middle and a twee romance undermine some of its impact.
Sep 29, 2008	irvinejump	75 _72nd
Fascinating film, with a great performance by Robertson
May 18, 2008	Stain	80 _68th
Pretty damn decent adaptation of _Flowers for Algernon_. Cliff Robertson's excellent performance helps immeasurably
May 14, 2008	BillyShears	60 _34th
The psychedelic shit really bring it down.
Sep 30, 2007	tonydal	75 _56th
Interesting that they did not show his decline (unlike the story/novel).
Sep 17, 2007	Dustyd	70 _63rd
good
Aug 14, 2007	supergloo	3 _9th
What this film taught me: intelligent people have maps of the solar system on their walls and unintelligent people wear clothes that don't fit.
Aug 14, 2007	Lucky	50 _32nd
The emotional resonance gets drowned out by some poor direction chioces. Good performances, but the TV movie from a couple years back is a better adaptation.
Aug 14, 2007	pilgermann	60 _33rd
The psychedelic bit where he runs away is righteous.
Jan 30, 2010	DavidBlast	70 _65th
A decent adaptation of the heart-breaking short story 'Flowers for Algernon' fails to truly bring on the hurt, when the formerly retarded Charly, realises that the effect of his I.Q. treatments, that has made him a genius, are beginning to diminish. It is, however, a story so strong that it's always going to leave you with something to think about - or perhaps not - which would be a point in itself.
Mar 09, 2010	Mechatigger	71 _50th
The superlative Academy Award-winning performance of Robertson playing a mentally retarded bakery worker is reason enough to see this one. The rest of the film is appreciably less successful.

Average Percentile 51.44% from 197 Ratings