Charlie Harper Review – Excellent Performances, Engrossing, Entertaining

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Category: Haute This Issue

Published on Tuesday, 22 September 2026 12:34

Written by Janet Walker

Charlie Harper, from Row K, presents the two sides of a modern romance, as two people coming into their own identities, fall in love, grow apart, meet again, and attempt to navigate the tension between love and ambition.

The film begins with what appears to be two strangers meeting. The man, Charlie, played by Nick Robinson, approaches the woman, Harper, played by Emilia Jones, and asks her if she remembers him. As she explains, she doesn't he begins listing events that should make her remember. Suddenly, a song begins to play, and they both smile.

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From her the film retraces their lives together. The cycle of youth, as then two 20 somethings, Charlie and Harper, spend a romantic summer, the first after graduation and the last before life encroaches, and decide the feelings are too strong to let die. As Harper knew from graduation her life goals, she made the plans to fulfil them. Charlie, on the other hand, was a born academic but a fear of failure, and a desire to stay 20 something for as long as possible, overtook him.

When they move to New Orleans, young love and the wild days and wilder nights of youth keep them happy until, as we hear Harper in voice over explain, its time to get serious. By this time, the dark spots in each other are becoming glaring, and Charlie's are surfacing faster, as he is an alcoholic.

At this point, he doesn't admit that drinking is a problem. Soon, he is filling the water bottles with vodka, so he can drink on the job. Harper finally manages to secure a chef apprentice position. Once she is hired, she is ecstatic, and she, Charlie and their group of friends go out and party. Soon, one shot turns into to 20 shots, then a bump, and by closing time, tomorrow doesn't even exist.

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This scene is suspenseful and doesn't turn out as expected. She arrives late and is immediately fired. Fortunately, the chef's wife Claire, played by Jessica Blackmore, likes her and give her a broom and an apron and tells her to begins sweeping the floor. She does, and for hours she is sweeping the floor until the Chef played by Jonathan Gregg and decides to test her knife skills. She passes and manages to get over her nearly derailing beginning.

This is when she decides its time to get serious. As she slowly begins to grow, the relationship begins to unravel and Charlie begins to drink more, and the more he drinks, the more inadequate he feels, and then blames Harper, who is trying to nudge him toward his one time goals. Each suggestion she makes is met with an obstinate refusal.

As they are growing apart, Harper is tired of investing in this relationship that is going nowhere. Five years has now passed, and it is New Year's Eve, she is out alone, with a friend, and begins dancing with a random stranger. Midnight arrives and she and the stranger welcome in the New Year with a kiss. She is racked with guilt over the betrayal and returns home to find Charlie passed out in the bathroom covered in vomit. It was the breaking point.

Even though they remain together for a few months, after this, she finally explains she is not happy.

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During the next scenes, five years are covered as quickly as time passes, and in a blink of an eye, we see Charlie hitting rock bottom, and slowly turning himself, and his life around, finally understanding and admitting addiction can be hereditary and growing slowly into a good man. Harper's career continues to rise, and suddenly both are here at the engagement party of their best friend.

Charlie Harper is an engaging, contemporary romance film that highlights the potential pitfalls that await as 20-somethings leave controlled environments determined to make their way without parental oversight and provides life lessons along the way.

Emilia Jones and Nick Robinson, and the entire cast, deliver memorable and authentic emotional and engrossing performances, as they attempt to balance answer the life's toughest questions such as is love enough and can life be fulfilling without career ambitions?

The cinematography captured the essence of youth and the passage to adulthood in simple, barely noticeable, set design choices, no longer pictures taped on the walls but actual picture frames, and real furniture.

Engrossing, riveting, emotional Charlie Harper opens exclusively in theaters Friday, September 25, 2026. See it.

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Country: US.

Language: English.

Runtime: 102 minutes.

Director: Mac Eldridge, Tom Dean.

Producer:  Wyck Godfrey, Isaac Klausner, Laura Quicksilver, Patrick Wachsberger, Ashley Stern, Mallory Edens.

Executive Producer: Lorenzzo Antonucci, Marty Brown, Pascal Breton, Miguel Cabolla, Wesley r. Edens, Ashley T. Farrell, Veronica Ferres, Sean Krajewski, Manuel Molina, Raj Brinder Singh, Paven Ranjit Sitlani, Lionel Uzan, Christopher Woodrow.

Writer: Tom Dean.

Cast: Emilia Jones, Nick Robinson Nicholas Cirillo, Jessica Blackmore, Virginia Tucker, Ja'Quan Monroe-Henderson, Gralen Bryant Banks, Jonathan Gregg, Sebastian Delascasas, Kareemah Muhammad, Christina Spencer, Donnie Fuslier, Katelyn Edrington, Caelan Wolfe.

Janet Walker is the publisher, founder, and sole owner of Haute-Lifestyle.com. A graduate of New York University, she has been covering international news through the Beltway Insider, a weekly review of the nation's top stories, for more than a decade.  A general beat writer/reporter and entertainment/film critic, she is also an accomplished news/investigative news/crime reporter and submitted for Pulitzer Prize consideration "Cops Conspire to Deep Six Sex Assaults" in the Breaking News Category and was persuaded to withdraw the submission. Under the banner of her production company, HL Productions, LLC, Ms. Walker has completed five screenplays "The Six Sides of Truth," "The Assassins of Fifth Avenue," "The Wednesday Killer," "The Manhattan Project," and the sci-fi thriller "Project 13: The Last Day." She has also published "Unholy Alliances: A True Crime Story," and "Days, Times, Seasons, and Events: A Collection of Poetry & Prose," which can be purchased here. She is a member of the Los Angeles Press Club, the National Writers Union, and a member of the International Federation of Journalists.