Fast Charlie

Fast Charlie is a 2023 American action thriller film directed by Phillip Noyce and written by Richard Wenk, based on the 2001 novel Gun Monkeys by Victor Gischler. It stars Pierce Brosnan, James Caan and Morena Baccarin.

Fast Charlie
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Phillip Noyce
Screenplay by	Richard Wenk
Based on	Gun Monkeys by Victor Gischler
Produced by	Ryan Donnell Smith Brent C. Johnson Jeff Holland Daniel Grodnik Mitchell Welch
Starring	Pierce Brosnan Morena Baccarin Gbenga Akinnagbe Toby Huss Jacob Grodnik Sharon Gless James Caan
Cinematography	Warwick Thornton
Edited by	Lee Haugen Jered Zalman
Music by	Fil Eisler
Production companies	Ashland Hill Media Finance Thomasville Pictures
Distributed by	Vertical Entertainment[1]
Release dates	October 7, 2023 (2023-10-07) (Mill Valley) December 8, 2023 (2023-12-08) (United States)
Running time	90 minutes[2]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$16 million[3]

It premiered at the 2023 Mill Valley Film Festival on October 7, 2023. The film was released in select theatres and video on demand on December 8, 2023.^[1]

Premise

For twenty years, Charlie Swift has been a fixer and hitman for a mob boss named Stan. After a rival boss puts a hit on Stan and his crew, Charlie is the sole survivor. Charlie decides to avenge his friend and teams up with Marcie, the ex-wife of a mobster he killed.

Cast

• Pierce Brosnan as Charlie Swift
• Morena Baccarin as Marcie Kramer
• James Caan as Stan Mullen
• Gbenga Akinnagbe as Beggar
• Christopher Matthew Cook as Lloyd "The Freak" Mercury
• David Chattam as Milt
• Toby Huss as Benny
• Fredric Lehne as Sal
• Sharon Gless as Mavis
• Brennan Keel Cook as Blade
• Susan Gallagher as Celine
• Lindsey G. Smith as Giselle
• David Kallaway as Ronnie
• Stephen Louis Grush as Goat
• Jared Bankens as Stone Cold
• Jacob Grodnik as Paulie

Production

In June 2009, Victor Gischler's 2001 novel Gun Monkeys was optioned for a film adaptation, with Lee Goldberg writing the script and Ryuhei Kitamura set to direct.^[4] In 2018, producer Dan Grodnik discovered the project, acquired the underlying rights and brought in Phillip Noyce to direct (Noyce had directed Blind Fury starring Rutger Hauer for him in 1989).

Both Kevin Costner and Bryan Cranston expressed interest in starring, but the film didn't come together until Pierce Brosnan signed on.^[5] In March 2022, James Caan and Morena Baccarin joined the cast.^[6]

Filming began in April 2022 in New Orleans.^{[citation needed]}

Fast Charlie was the last film to star Caan, who died on July 6, 2022.^[7] In the same month, Brosnan posted photos of Caan on the film's set.^[8]

Release

The film premiered at the 2023 Mill Valley Film Festival on October 7, 2023, while the film was released in select theatres and video on demand on December 8, 2023, by Vertical Entertainment.^[9]

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 84% of 31 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.6/10. The website's consensus reads: "Thanks largely to Pierce Brosnan's charming work in the title role, Fast Charlie is a slickly watchable thriller that engages despite its standard story."^[10] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 65 out of 100, based on 6 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.