It's the opinion of this critic that when a movie doesn't land for someone, the viewing experience is more likely to be frustrating if they can envision a version of it that would have. I'm Charlie Walker is a good test of that hypothesis. The new film from director Patrick Gilles aspires to many different paths for itself, ranging from Spike Lee-esque didactic fiction to a Blaxploitation homage, and it assembles a cast with the talent to realize that vision. But, in practice, none of these go beyond the level of overture and it settles into something resembling reenactments in a TV documentary. The paths for a better, more interesting movie are almost always visible, but I'm Charlie Walker never steps in their direction, too confident in a script that is still a few passes away from reaching its potential.
As one might guess from the title, the movie follows Charlie Walker (Mike Colter), a Black trucker in an early '70s San Francisco landscape that clearly doesn't want him there. After maneuvering his way into business, he finds himself with an opportunity for success in 1971, when two tankers owned by Standard Oil collide in the San Francisco Bay and spill hundreds of thousands of gallons of crude oil. The cleanup operation is so big that, to racists' chagrin, Charlie ends up managing a beach of his own — which, by sheer luck, ends up a pollution epicenter. Knowing the establishment is unlikely to let him come out on top, the wily protagonist moves to not only outperform his competition, but put him in the best position possible for the inevitable confrontation with the executive in charge, Mr. Bennett (Dylan Baker).
If there's anything that defines I'm Charlie Walker, it's being surface-level, and this should not have to be written as a criticism. Gilles' movie is (very) explicitly interested in exploring racism and the number of interactions Charlie has that aren't immediately about the color of his skin can be counted on one hand. The movie opens by calling out SF's reputation as a place of left-leaning tolerance and, given that Charlie's task is to remove an undesirable black substance from the surface of a white beach (something he proves far better at than anyone), there's potential for biting satire here. A cameo from filmmaker and musician Boots Riley, who directed the boundlessly creative Sorry to Bother You, even winks in that direction. But the script is so blunt in its approach that engaging with it on that level would only be aggravating.
Absent a compelling message to chew on, viewers will be looking instead for intrigue and here, too, I'm Charlie Walker is plagued by a lack of nuance. The story as told is much less interesting than the movie assumes. Charlie thinks just one step ahead is positioned as supreme cleverness and there's nothing about the plot that the audience won't perceive as obvious. The characters never progress past stereotypes, from the hippies to the unscrupulous businessmen and the racist bums (complete with menacing Southern drawls despite ostensibly being NorCal locals), leaving them with no growth arcs an audience can latch onto. The decision to frequently tell the viewer what's happening through voiceover, the source of the TV documentary comparison, gives them little reason to actually pay close attention to the scenes themselves.
The only real saving grace is the cast, who end up guinea pigs in a test of how difficult it is to overcome underbaked material. I'm Charlie Walker includes many faces viewers will remember having liked elsewhere: aside from Luke Cage's Colter and The Good Wife's Baker, Carl Lumbly was recently the best part of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Monica Barbaro should hopefully be catapulted to bigger and better things now that Top Gun: Maverick is finally in theaters. However, no matter how often these performers appear, they are all underused, asked to hold a single note for much longer than is believable or engaging. Even if they each peek through in flashes, as good actors are wont to do, the moments are likely to go unseen, the movie having long since convinced its audience to disengage.
I'm Charlie Walker released in select theaters and on VOD Friday, June 10. The film is 78 minutes long and is not yet rated.