Mike Colter is Charlie Walker but who actually was Charlie Walker? He was a black man living in 1971 California Bay area trying to build up his trucking business in the face of often quite hostile racism that had a detrimental effect on expanding his fledgling company. That opportunity to expand occurred during an environmental disaster when two oil tankers collided near the Golden Gate bridge collided spilling their contents into the water and surrounding coastline and a huge clean up operation was launched.
The damage was catastrophic and companies here represented by sleazy bigot Bennet (Dylan Baker who is always great in these type of roles) were all set to capitalize on the clear up. It was the sort of accident that you could see Donald Trump avail himself of the opportunity to sell oil sodden seabirds as barbeque firelighters. Walker managed to win a contract to clear up Stinson beach in Marin County using specialized equipment and the help of volunteer hippies in the area.
It’s made clear that Walker was no saint and was as eager to exploit the situation and the hippie volunteers too for the good of his business and finds a further opportunity to monetize the oil logged sand offloading it to a road building contractor for profit despite him not owning the oil.
Charlie Walker as played by Mike Colter is not a gangster or hoodlum or any of the stereotypical characters from the blaxplotation era style that the film has been filmed. He was likeable, sassy, self assured, opportunistic, street smart operator driven to build his business and take advantage of any situation forging a friendship with the yet to be politician Willie Brown ( the real life person who here plays a cab driver) and who became mayor of San Francisco.
Narrated by his wife Ann (Safiya Fredericks) that soon disappears after the first act the film is not without its issues and that issue is its veracity. Starting off with the ubiquitous, ’Based on a true story’ the film is bookended with, ‘All characters and events in this film, even those based on real individuals, are completely fictional’. It completely undermines what has just been seen and everything that has just happened. Seemingly the only thing that does have credence is the end cards that make clear the positives that Walker did achieve although the downside included 23 felonies he was convicted for having been investigated by the FBI (albeit 17 counts were thrown out). But At 70 minutes ‘I’m Charlie Walker’ doesn’t hang around in what is ultimately a breezy TV movie of the week.
related feature : ‘Origin’ review – a quite brilliant dissection of international racism
related feature : Jamie Foxx & Michael B Jordan / the ‘Just Mercy’ premiere in London
We chat to actor Carl Lumbly about, ‘I’m Charlie Walker’ and his role in the film…..
Here’s the, ‘I’m Charlie Walker’ trailer …..
