In a story about infamous London gangster, Charlie Richardson, you might expect to hear about his rise to power, the struggles he had with rivals, set-ups for his ultimate fall when finally sent to jail; the film Charlie is not like this at all.
Lacking real focus, the film instead looks at anecdotes relating to the testimony given against him and, more often, other short tales of his criminal endeavours that are largely unrelated.
Although the film is clearly biased towards his version of events, we never really see a hero (or anti-hero) emerge, leaving the film sadly lacking in terms of character and plot. Certainly, we learn something of the man, but never enough to really make us care either way, no struggle, no interest.
While Luke Goss puts in a strong visual performance as the title role, his faux-cockney accent grates and ultimately taints the whole film.
Sub-par ganster action, but not entirely without merit.