Goodbye Charlie Bright 2001

Paul Nicholls plays Charlie, a young man who drifts through life with his friends, soaking in a lifestyle built on house parties, casual sex and drugs. One night, the crew breaks into a house to rob it and stumble upon a handgun after discovering keys and an address in a handbag they had stolen. During the break-in, they wake the owner, a hefty Jamaican man, who chases them into the street with a golf club. They escape, and Charlie—who had promised to tell Justin everything—decides to keep the gun to himself.

Months later, Charlie and Justin are strolling through a disused car park when they spot Julie, Nicola Stapleton as Julie, the girlfriend of Francis, in a BMW and involved with Eddie, Phil Daniels as Eddie, a local man about twenty years her senior, despite her pregnancy with Francis’ baby. By this point it’s clear that Charlie longs to change his life, while Justin seems content to stay on the estate forever. The two attend a party hosted by their cousin Hector Moriati, and Charlie is offered a possible job as an estate agent. Richard Driscoll as Hector eventually ejects Justin and tells Charlie not to come back, signaling the end of any early chance at a new path. Charlie’s mood darkens; on the walk home, the two begin to fight, and Charlie, as the narrator, notes that from that moment “something changed, things could never be the same.”

The next day Charlie approaches Francis in the street and the pair head to a boxing gym where Francis proclaims his intention to propose to Julie, declaring that he is “loved up.” Charlie reveals Julie’s affair with Eddie, and Francis, in a tearful rage, storms off to confront Eddie, smashing the window of his BMW. Eddie bolts, and Francis is left lying unconscious in the road. While Charlie sits with him in the hospital, a distraught Francis’s mother moves him, and Charlie resolves to take revenge on Eddie with the stolen pistol. He loses his nerve, and Eddie tells him to “Fuck off out my house before you and I fall out.”

Back outside, Charlie shows the gun to Justin, who becomes deeply attached to it and suggests they should kill Eddie. In the park, Justin is disgusted when he insults a child and threatens him with the weapon; Charlie snatches the gun back and tells him he no longer wants to be involved. A distressed Justin tries to redeem himself, but Charlie refuses and instead gives him the gun as a farewell gift. Justin later uses the weapon to shoot Eddie in the leg (he survives), and the pair climb to the top of a high-rise building as the police close in. Justin tells Charlie to leave or risk being arrested, and Charlie seems to forgive him as they share a final hug.

The film culminates with two divergent paths: Justin turns himself in to a cheering crowd, while Charlie packs his bags and leaves. A child who has appeared throughout the story asks Charlie where he’s going, and he simply replies, “Somewhere.” We never learn what happens to Charlie.

“loved up”

“Fuck off out my house before you and I fall out”

“Somewhere”