Michael is an introverted, Japanese-American auto mechanic who lives in a Los Angeles duplex, whose other half he leases out to Lori. The Chinese-American Lori becomes good friends with Michael and there is somewhat of an air of sexual tension between them, but Michael, aware that Lori has a live-in boyfriend, Justin, doesn't cross their line of friendship. When the enigmatic drifter Darcy comes into Michael's life, the dynamics between him, Lori, and Justin are complicated and Michael must make a decision between his head and heart.
On review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, Charlotte Sometimes has an approval rating of 81% based on 43 reviews. The site's critic consensus reads, "Featuring an attractive young cast, Charlotte mostly shines as a portrait of the sexual frolics and hangups of L.A. Asian twentysomethings."[1] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 72 based on 16 reviews, indicating a "generally favorable" reception.[8]
Roger Ebert praised the film and awarded it 3 and ½ out of 4 stars.[9] Ebert wrote the film "drew me in from the opening shots. Byler reveals his characters in a way that intrigues and even fascinates us, and he never reduces the situation to simple melodrama, which would release the tension. This is like a psychological thriller, in which the climax has to do with feelings, not actions."[9] Of Kim, Ebert wrote she "brings a quality to Darcy that is intriguing and unsettling at the same time."[9] He added, "Idemoto brings such a loneliness to his role, such a feeling of the character's long hours of solitary thought, that we care for him right from the start and feel his pain about this woman who might be the right one for him but remains elusive and hidden."[9]
Carla Meyer of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote, "Most romances about smart, stylish young people like these would force them into quip-a-minute mode, fearful that audiences weaned on Friends won't accept a simple, unhurried love story. But Charlotte's characters are allowed depth and self-awareness, even when they do the foolish things young people do, like rush into relationships with strangers."[10]
Desson Thomson of The Washington Post also reviewed the film positively, writing "It's a smartly made, hedonistic spectacle of alluring, nubile characters, sun-warmed narcissism and breathtaking color."[11] Thomson added "the film amounts to an inner chess game (or Go game) among lovers or would-be lovers. It's governed by the impulsive urges of the heart and all the attendant feelings, confessions, lies and deceptions."[11]
Marjorie Baumgarten of the Austin Chronicle was more mixed in her review and critical of the story, but praised the camerawork and noted the four main characters all being Asian-Americans "provides another layer of meaning for Charlotte Sometimes as the film intrinsically shows us, although without ever overtly commenting on it, some of the unique inter- and intra-cultural ramifications of the Asian-American dating scene."[12]
Charlotte Sometimes was released on DVD by Hart Sharp Video on September 30, 2003.[17] Among the DVD's bonus features is a 2003 Q&A with Byler, executive producer John Bard Manulis, and cast members Idemoto and Kim moderated by Roger Ebert from his Overlooked Film Festival.[18][19]
