Writer and director Simon Boisvert brings to life this feature length drama with an impressive cast to carry his story. After being involved with a tragedy at work that lead to the fatal death of all passengers aboard a small aircraft, Kim (Stacie Mistysyn) finds herself under a microscope. While it is fairly apparent that the collision was beyond her control, there are other aspects to Kim’s life that most certainly are the result of her control. The choices she makes don’t shine the best light on her. This includes an affair with a married property investor, Charlie (David La Haye).
After the incident, Kim’s cop husband Jeff (Bruce Dinsmore) is nothing but supportive. But Kim continues to chooses Charlie. She thrusts herself further into his life, taking a job with his company. Things go even further when she encourages her husband to invest in Charlie’s property company on the promise of a good return in order to cover her lawyer fees.
While Kim clearly makes poor choices, everything begins to unravel when it becomes apparent that Charlie’s business dealings are less than legit. When the truth finally comes out, Jeff is forced to put aside his personal feelings about Charlie and Kim’s affair in order to investigate the fraud. A series of sting operations ensues and Jeff and his partner Andy (Peter Miller) work together to try to ensnare the slippery snake that is Charlie. But can Kim fix the damage left by her relationship with Charlie, and what other demons will come back to haunt her?
Charlie Tango is a well thought out drama that is, for the most part, well-paced. Unfortunately the excitement of two planes crashing into each other isn’t quite matched by the thrill of a Ponzi scheme, but David La Haye as Charlie does an excellent job of providing charisma and keeping the viewer engaged in what could potentially be a rather dull subject. David La Haye is a compelling villain and manages to take some of the heat off of Kim for having an affair because viewers become more focused on his villainy. There’s plenty else to keep viewers going, including the strange character of Tonya (Diana Lewis) who often appears as a thorn in Charlie’s side. Bruce Dinsmore as Jeff is a patient but no nonsense cop – Dinsmore flexes a spectrum of emotions as he learns of his wife’s infidelity. Stacie Mistysyn as Kim pulls the character in many directions. Despite the affair, Mistysyn manages to keep the audience on Kim’s side, evoking empathy rather than mistrust and judgement.
The strong performances from the whole cast certainly elevate this film into a higher class. The mise-en-scene is also particularly commendable, moving from the cockpit of a plane to Charlie’s fancy offices and Kim’s home helps to make the narrative feel very full and believable.
Everyone has their own vision of what justice looks like. There will be a price to pay.