Movie Review: Sundance Institute Audience Favourite, Brian and Charles

Introducing Brian and Charles from Universal Pictures. An award-winning film of a tale as old as time, one man and his A.I washing machine.

Winning the Audience Favorite award at Sundance Institute, the richness of Brian and Charles comes from its raw simplicity. Silly, clumsy and endearing, Brian and Charles is a film that will comfort the soul and serve as a heartwarming reminder that through the darkest of struggles, there is always love, hope and imaginative magic and to be found. Life is always a gamble and sometimes you’ve gotta throw in your best hand. Let the chips fall where they may – whether it’s through real-life scenarios or online games on SlotsLV.

Follow the two on an easy-watching comedy adventure, as they form lifelong bonds of family and friendship. Eat cabbages a-plenty, fall in love with the parrot-obsessed neighbour lady, harbour dreams of heading to Honolulu and battle a local family of good-fer-nothin’ bullies with dream duo, Brian and Charles.

2023 Movie Recommends, Brain and Charles: Pt 1, Meeting Brian

To begin, social outcast Brian appears to be surrounded by a documentary crew. Curious about his nomadic daily life and his curiously useless inventions, tv has taken notice. Brian’s weird ideas, pieced together with carefully chosen selection of scrap-heap trash, are shared directly to camera with glee. Quietly sad, Brian seems keep hold of a zest for life via the imagination and creativity he pours into these nonsensical designs.

Brian generously welcomes the crew into his cold, cluttered and isolated cottage for a tour. However, thanks to Brians gentle and vulnerable narration of the building’s sorry-looking nooks and crannies, it all seems quite cozy. It becomes clear early on that Brian, cut off from the tiny local community and with no family to speak of, is getting lonely out here in the sticks.

On a daily trip to the local shop, the world-weary shopkeeper insists Brian not pay for a stale, already opened snack pot much to his delight. The film cuts throughout to visuals of icy gales rolling through a bleak winter in the Welsh countryside. An intimate warmth evolves on screen as the crew are invited inside the shops and homes of this little hamlet, away from the bracing elements outside.

Having signed up to watch one of the best films of 2023, the story has so far managed to match the awkward and confrontingly realistic comedy of beloved sitcoms like The Office. Even so, it hasn’t reached the aforementioned award-winning territory as yet. Questions arise at this point as to where the meandering tale will lead –

Will Brian rise to the heady heights of scientific stardom?
Will he take over the world with his random contraptions?
From it’s sad yet sweet and humble beginnings, how will the highly recommended film reach the impact of a true Hollywood blockbuster?

The answers to that are –

Well, not quite.
Erm, probably not.
Though it might not compete with an adrenaline fueled Marvel franchise, the story strolls along at a pleasant pace. Closer to Welsh Valleys than Hollywood Hills, but equally as beautiful.

Best Films of 2023, Brain and Charles: Pt 2, When Brian met Charles

Brian, on his daily rounds does some sink tinkering for a local grandmother and her interesting granddaughter Hazel. Hazel, of similar age to Brian has a few interesting personality quirks of her own. A spark of romance is apparent between the two social misfits.

Brian finds an old mannequin head on one of his many scavenger hunts and impulsively decides to build a humanoid robot, as you do. He rambles vaguely about artificial intelligence and the mockumentary crew appears to humour him. Much to his dismay, a franken-robot moment doesn’t quite occur and the film quickly returns to the dismal day-to-day of Brian’s starkly quiet life.

Before long, a hideous mannequin head appears in Brian’s suddenly sprawling country garden, atop a fully dressed robot-man hybrid scoffing away at the cabbages. Meet Charles.

The scene convenes inside Brian’s cottage. Still piled high with hoarder levels of clutter, the cottage now appears to be homely and well-lit. Charles is quickly processing as much information as he can digest, starting with ‘ol reliable, the English dictionary. The back and forth between the two is joyful, in particular Brian’s confused delight at his unpredictable new friend.

In the family dynamic, Charles initially takes on the role of a cheeky toddler. In a funny and poignant montage, Charles quickly evolves into a troublesome teenager. Charles sets his heart set on heading to Honolulu after watching a travel show over tv dinner with Brian. Life seems suddenly idyllic for the two. In spite of that, life is here to test the best of them and movies need plot points, so prepare for some slight turbulence.

The local hard-nut and his motley crew take and interest in Charles holding him hostage. Set to work heav-lifting in the pig yard, Brain tries to persuade the bully to set Charles free but to no avail. Antagonizing the bully only serves to cement a devious plan to throw rusty old Charles on the local bonfire come Guy Fawkes night. With the help of a little moxie from justice-seeking Hazel, Brian comes up with a plan to rescue Charles. In a final showdown that showcases a myriad of Brian’s precious inventions, the bullies scarper and Charles is safely returned home to the gift of a trip to his beloved Honolulu.