By Josh Chetwynd, USA TODAY
These are not your father's Angels. At least that's what the new Charlie's Angels believe.
"In our world, this is the year 2000, and the agency has never stopped going," Drew Barrymore says. "We're the new recruits."
But the new team does share some characteristics with earlier Angels squads. Even then-and-now producer Leonard Goldberg sees broad similarities.
"In both, the Angels are beautiful, intelligent, feminine and, if not fearless, they are very brave," he says.
Goldberg says similarities don't go much further than that, but Michael Pingel, editor of the Charlie's Angels fan site Angelic Heaven (www.charliesangels.com), argues that each of the new Angels has specific traits that are much like their predecessors.
Dylan (Barrymore). Like Kate Jackson's Sabrina Duncan, Dylan is the ringleader. "Both of them bring their fellow Angels together and get them going," Pingel says. She also has a little Julie Rogers (played by Tanya Roberts) in her. "They're both in-your-face and streetwise."
Natalie (Cameron Diaz). Being a blonde is just one of the characteristics Diaz's character shares with Farrah Fawcett's Jill Munroe. "Farrah was always dancing around to disco music, and Diaz also dances around," Pingel says. Other similarities: Each is her trio's most effervescent member, and each is her group's most athletic.
Alex (Lucy Liu). While Alex's refined background offers shades of Shelley Hack's upper-crust Angel, Tiffany Welles, her actions are most like Jaclyn Smith's Kelly Garrett . They both pick locks and are electronics experts. And they both have standout sex appeal, Pingel says. "They are both the elegant one, and they both look good in black."
By Claudia Puig and Josh Chetwynd, USA TODAY
LOS ANGELES — "Sex, pure and simple."
That was the ingredient that brought success to the Charlie's Angels TV show in the '70s. (At least according to The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows.)
So it seems odd that Hollywood's big-screen Angels — Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liu — seem to take their new movie very seriously.
Get the trio going about the crime-fighting babes who take their orders from a mysterious boss, and you'll start to hear some pretty highfalutin talk.
"I think it's important to know the history of (the series) so you can honor it," says a straight-faced Drew Barrymore, who as a producer helped recruit the other Angels. "We would never do anything in the film to dishonor the Angels or the agency."
"We pay homage to the show," says Liu, the Ally McBeal co-star who was the final Angel cast for the film, after actresses such as Ashley Judd didn't work out.
In Angels, the women — Diaz, 28 ; Barrymore, 25 ; and Liu, 32 — play private detectives in the same agency as TV babes Kate Jackson, Jaclyn Smith and Farrah Fawcett (and later Cheryl Ladd, Shelley Hack and Tanya Roberts). Working for the elusive Charlie, the detectives' mission is to track down a kidnapped Bill Gates-style guru (Sam Rockwell) and keep his scientific computer breakthrough from getting into the wrong hands.
These three insist that they believe in this picture, rumors of a troubled shoot (including reports of rifts and flare-ups) notwithstanding. Angels, they say, is more than just a little jiggle.
Really? Here's what the Angels contend and an assessment of whether Angels has any more substance than a cirrus cloud.
Angels say: It's a tale of empowerment
Actresses' assertion: "The Angels," Liu says, "have a friendship, they have a common bond, and they work together. And that's a strong message to send to young girls — and young boys, too."
Says Diaz: "We wanted every girl to see herself up there. We didn't want to say we're better than men or that we're repressed by men."
Barrymore says they intentionally went for strong bonds connecting the women. "When you're dealing with girls, the competition thing can get a little heavy-handed. (The Angels) have a good time, enjoy the adventures, do their job to the fullest and solve the case every single time."
Additional backup: Leonard Goldberg, who produced the movie and was an executive producer of the series, confirms that the intention was to introduce a gentle feminism into the Angel world. "Back then, the glass ceiling was 3 feet off the floor, and even a short woman could bump her head. Now, there is much more opportunity. That's what these characters are trying to show."
And director McG: "We wanted to promote the idea that you can reach for the stars, whether you're male or female."
On-screen evidence: Scenes of physical solidarity — 4, including a Three Musketeers-style clasped handshake and such advice as "You don't want to be with a man who's intimidated by a strong woman" and "Never send a man to do a woman's job."
Men left waiting while the Angels kick butt — 3
An expert opinion: "These new Angels bring a whole new-millennium feel," says Michael Pingel, editor of Angelic Heaven (www.charliesangels.com ), a fan site devoted to the series. "Not only do they have a career and relationships, but they also kick someone's butt while on the cellphone. They can not only infiltrate a high-tech business place, but also make a soufflé . These Angels have it all."
Conclusion: If empowerment means outsmarting the guys, putting up a good fight and looking ravishing while doing it, then this movie sends the message. But the girls still blindly carry out orders from an unseen male boss and hang on the arm of the avuncular Bosley (Bill Murray), so they're not exactly sisters doin' it for themselves.
Angels say: It's not a spoof
Actresses' assertion: "We didn't want to make a spoof," Barrymore says. "But we also didn't want to take it too seriously. There was a real fun aspect to the original show that we didn't want to lose. Instead of making fun of it, you have fun with it."
Adds Diaz: "It's a delicate balance, for sure, but you never insult the original show, you respect it."
And Liu: "There are certain plotlines we sort of borrow from the original series, but at the same time we create something new and modern and show the cultural changes and the political changes of this era for women and make it a little more dynamic, a little more current."
Additional backup: Goldberg says that gently poking fun at the Angels was the good way to make the movie different from the show. "We knew we couldn't do just a two-hour version that is going to be a long episode," he says. "From the first scene of the movie, we are saying to the audience, 'Just get some popcorn and sit back because this is going to be fun.'"
On-screen evidence:
Self-mocking hair flips — 4, including some in slow motion, plus some romantic advice from Barrymore and Liu to Diaz to "flip your g--damn hair" to entice a man.
Times Angels go undercover (a trademark of the show) — 6
Angel songs — 5, including Undercover Angel and Angel of the Morning
Former Angel hairdos imitated — 2 (Fawcett's and Smith's)
Plot points taken directly from old TV episodes — 7
Original Angel cameos — 0
Conclusion: Those slo-mo hair flips and angel songs are definitely spoofy, but borrowing plotlines and having the Angels go undercover mark legitimate tribute territory. Giving the homages a light touch was wise because taking a remake too seriously has proved to be disastrous. (Remember The Mod Squad?)
Angels say: We're against guns
Actresses' assertion: Barrymore insisted from the beginning that the Angels would not fire a single gun. "I don't respond to blood and body counts," she says. "There are a lot of films that I really love that have that sort of style, but I'm more into Indiana Jones and Superman and the Incredible Hulk."
There also is a responsibility to young fans who will be able to get into this PG-13 movie, Liu says. "We know a lot of the audience is going to be younger. And we don't want to make them think they need to go out and get a gun and start shooting people to show they are strong women."
An expert opinion: "I missed the Angels having guns," Pingel says. "It puts them in a different light. "
On-screen evidence:
Angels who shoot guns — 0
Angels who use a bow and arrow — 1, but not as a weapon
Angels who knock somebody cold with bare hands during martial arts sequences — 3
Conclusion: OK, the Angels don't use guns, but the movie doesn't exactly make an anti-gun statement; everyone else seems to be packing heat. If they intended to send an anti-violence message, it's diminished by the Angels engaging in hand-to-hand combat throughout the film. And the no-gun stance eliminates an important Angel attribute. Even Barrymore concedes that when she consulted Kate Jackson, the ex-Angel said her favorite part of the show was sticking her gun at a bad guy and yelling, "Freeze, turkey."
Angels say: The jiggles aren't degrading
Actresses' assertion: "It's not just a matter of kicking guys' butts in the movie," Liu says. "One of the powers of being a woman is our sexuality."
"Our bodies," Barrymore chimes in.
"We have fun with it," says Diaz. "We're not walking in with bedroom eyes and the come-hither smile. We're playing the situation in a natural, honest way . What's natural to male and female exchange is having sexuality between it, and it's not a crime to use that, because it's backed up. If you're not backing it up, if you're only just using your sexuality as a tool to get what you want, then that's something that's hollow."
Yet sex appeal alone, Barrymore says, has its faults. "You can be intelligent, sexy and funny, and it makes you more attractive. But if you're sexy and don't have the capabilities behind you, it's not as interesting."
Additional backup: Sure, Fawcett became a pin-up queen while on the show, and maybe the series achieved success because of its sex appeal. But the show wasn't only about jiggling and wiggling, says Jack Condon, author of the recently released The Charlie's Angels Casebook. "It was an overrated thing. Jaclyn Smith is the only one (of the original trio) to wear a bikini. "
The same goes for the film, Goldberg says. "You don't want to do anything exploitative." Even if the filmmakers had wanted sexier attire, the Angels would have rebelled, he says. "Nobody tells Lucy Liu, Cameron Diaz or Drew Barrymore what to wear."
On-screen evidence:
Butt wiggles or references to the behind — 10
Cleavage shots — 2
Bikini shot — 1 (Diaz, while driving a boat)
Songs about butts — 1 (Sir Mix-A-Lot's Baby Got Back)
Angels having sex — 1 (Barrymore's character with two different people)
Conclusion: Even the actresses acknowledge they're flaunting their goods throughout the movie. And no matter how fun they think it is, lots of moviegoers — especially the key demographic of teenage boys — will get more jollies from the Angels' jiggles than their martial arts moves.
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