Charlie’s Gift

Charlie’s Gift is a heart-warming story of Evelyn, a sweet elderly woman who happens to receive the gift from her late husband on her first flight. The film is about the fulfilment of a  promise made by a husband to his wife at the beginning of their marriage. A brilliant narration is complemented by an exemplary portrayal of Evelyn by Dee Wallace. The story begins with Evelyn boarding on a flight to New York to live with her daughter after the recent demise of her beloved husband.

Evelyn is a meek woman who happens to sit in a seat reserved for an acerbic old man, Derrick. He demands her to move out of his seat and asks to produce her boarding pass to clear things up for her, but Evelyn in her already nervous state gets upset searching for her lost pass. Meanwhile, the flight attendant who has been the victim of Derrick’s mockery in the aisle comes to Evelyn’s aid. Directing her disapproval at Derrick, the flight attendant moves Evelyn to first class, leaving her in the company of Fred Cuellar.

The conversation between Evelyn and Fred is what makes this film so pleasing to watch. Fred is in diamonds business travelling to New York to present a new setting from his latest diamond engagement ring collection. He is a kind, affable person who engages Evelyn in a conversation asking her about her purpose of travelling to New York. Evelyn, the conversationalist that she is, talks about her daughter’s family in New York who invites her to live with them after her husband, Charlie’s death recently. It is moving to see Evelyn reminisce about her first meeting with Charlie, and how she was dumbfounded in his presence. A striking resemblance between Evelyn and her younger self is skilfully achieved with employment of greyscale video to present the flashback, or it may just be a natural coincidence that Dee Wallace and Gabrielle Stone look very alike here in the film.

Evelyn later realises that she has been the only one talking and asks Fred about his occupation. She expresses a bubbling enthusiasm at the utterance of diamonds and recounts Charlie’s promise to her about a diamond ring. Her face betrays her love for Charlie every time she talks about him and how he had been a hardworking, and loving man providing for the family all his life. Being the witness of Charlie-Evelyn’s love, Fred convinces Evelyn that he is the bearer of Charlie’s gift and offers her the ring he was carrying as a token of her late husband’s promise to her. The genuine expressions of Dee Wallace in her portrayal of an honest, sweet elderly woman has indisputably enhanced the scope of this storyline.

The choice of setting for such a pleasant plot and the way the story advanced are commendable. Every performance in this beautiful movie is so refined and exceptionally good, but the character that everyone will absolutely find adorable is Evelyn. Ben Demaree made sure that this is a wonderful experience to watch and the director, Duane Journey has been successful in eliciting diverse emotions from his artists. The conviction of the film substantiates the words – ‘Love never forgets a promise’. Charlie’s Gift surely does melt your heart.