Aahana Swrup
‘Fast Charlie,’ the Pierce Brosnan starrer action film, charts a story of betrayal and the subsequent revenge exacted in its name. Charlie Swift is an unconventional problem solver who works in a tricky line of business that involves a lot of shooting. Despite his years of experience, Charlie is taken by surprise when a rival gang targets Charlie’s boss, Stan Mullin, and his crew, obliterating almost every member. As such, after finding himself in a clear lack of allies, Charlie must go against the up-and-coming boss, Beggar, alone.
The film equips a classically entertaining narrative about a charming hitman and his vengeful mission in which he finds unexpected help from Marcie, the ex-wife of one of his previous victims. In his quest to settle scores, Charlie faces many complications that lead to undiscovered truths about his profession. Thus, his story leaves the viewers wondering about certain aspects of the conclusion. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Fast Charlie Plot Synopsis
Mob boss Stan Mullin more or less owns Biloxi, Mississippi, where he has a network of employees, including Charlie Swift, a former Marine turned hitman. On his latest assignment, Charlie accompanies a new recruit, Blade, known for his skill with a knife, to an assassination job. In his excitement, the other man opts for a new technique, which includes dropping off a bomb disguised as donuts at their target’s house. As a result, while Blade succeeds in killing Rollo, the man’s dead body remains unrecognizable since his face blows off.
Consequently, to provide identity confirmation to their client, Charlie tracks down Rollo’s ex-wife, Marcie Kramer. At first, the man attempts to bribe Marcie into accompanying him to identify Rollo’s body to the other party. However, Marcie, unwilling to return to the underworld, simply informs Charlie about a distinct tattoo on the dead man’s body. With confirmation collected, Charlie tries to leave, only to find out Blade planned on turning on him all along. Thus, the man takes off with Rollo’s body, intending to deliver him directly to the client, Beggar, and work for his gang.
Nonetheless, in his glee, Blade runs into a spectacular car crash that kills him immediately and sets fire to Rollo’s dead body. Yet, Charlie comes up with a simple solution. After replacing Rollo’s body with Blade’s headless one and marking the latter with an identical tattoo with Marcie’s brother’s help, Charlie delivers “Rollo’s” body to Beggar as promised.
Soon, Stan’s birthday party rolls around, wherein his entire network gathers to celebrate. Even though the old man’s recently developed memory problems have slowed him down considerably, Charlie continues to respect him for everything he has done in the last 47 years of his criminal career. Nevertheless, everyone else doesn’t share the same sentiment. As such, disguised men attack Stan’s entire crew one nondescript morning. While Charlie manages to escape from the altercation alive, his colleagues don’t share the same fate.
Similarly, the men also littered Stan’s house with dead bodies. Afterward, Charlie meets with Sal, who oversees criminal activity across the area. Charlie recognizes Beggar’s men from the crime scenes and wishes to go after him in revenge. Nonetheless, given Beggar’s lucrative contribution, Sal refuses to sanction Charlie’s revenge plot despite the other criminal’s rogue actions. Still, the man’s refusal means little to Charlie, who remains on course.
Recently, Rollo ruined Beggar’s plans by finding incriminating dirt on him. Therefore, Charlie realizes he needs access to the same information to bring the other man down. Likewise, he also figures out that Rollo’s men will be going after Marcie in their hunt to retract the evidence. Although Marcie manages to fight off the men herself, she decides to accompany Charlie in finding Rollo’s secret since her ex owes her money. After a detour to Rollo’s last hotel room, the duo arrives at Rollo’s mother’s house.
Although their trip ends up being futile, Marcie has an epiphany about where Rollo might have hidden his secret. The next day, the woman storms Rollo’s former office at Beggar’s bar under the pretense of searching for her ex. As such, she manages to find a hidden videotape among Rollo’s belongings. However, before she can leave, Beggar’s men surround her. In the end, Charlie arrives in the knick of time to rescue her but ends up getting caught himself. Although he slips away from the situation, things worsen when he finds out Beggar has taken Marcie hostage and demands the tape in exchange for her life.
Fast Charlie Ending: Does Charlie Get His Revenge?
Throughout the film, Charlie’s central drive remains his search for vengeance. The man has been working for Stan for years and has remained loyal to his fellow agents. As such, their deaths come as a shock to the other man, and he’s unable to move on while the man responsible for their deaths goes unpunished. For the same reason, Charlie pulls the trigger on Benny’s head without a second thought after realizing the other man sold out their boss and colluded with Beggar to carry out the mass attack.
Yet, where Beggar has his vast network of hitmen and soldiers working for him, Charlie doesn’t have anyone but Marcie to turn to for alliance. Even so, Marcie’s help remains confined to her own monetary motives. Therefore, Charlie concludes that seeking out Rollo’s secret would be the smartest decision. Although Charlie didn’t care to know why Beggar wanted Rollo dead when he carried out the assassination job, he soon realized the other man held valuable information against the gangster.
Therefore, the tape that Marcie procures from her dead ex-husband’s office is the most vital piece in Charlie’s battle against Beggar. Yet, now, the latter attempts to use it as a bargaining chip against Charlie. Thus, Charlie has no choice but to play Beggar’s game and arrive to swap the tape for Marcie’s life. Still, the man was never one to play by someone else’s rule.
Before arriving at the designated spot, Charlie looked through the tape and realized Beggar had been selling Sal out to the FBI for a long time. For the same reason, the man had Rollo killed but failed to retrieve the tape itself. Consequently, Charlie takes the evidence to Sal, who sanctions Charlie’s hit against Beggar in his own self-preservation.
In the end, even though Charlie faces Beggar without a gun, with Marcie held hostage, he comes out on top. Sal’s sniper shoots Beggar in a headshot without harming Marcie. As a result, Beggar dies, and Sal and Charlie both get their revenge.
Is Stan Dead? How Did He Survive?
While the audience assumes Stan’s death is the reason behind Charlie’s revenge quest, the same ends up not being the case in the end. Once the dust settles, Charlie and Marcie go out to have lunch with the former’s old friend, who turns out to be Stan Mullin. As it would turn out, the old man hadn’t died on the day of the attack. Instead, Charlie had simply faked his death to ensure his safety.
When Beggar’s men attacked Stan’s house, the man wasn’t at the location. In fact, Charlie had moved him far away from Biloxi on his birthday after realizing Beggar spelled trouble. As such, during the attack, Stan remained safe and sound. Still, Charlie employed another dead body belonging to Paulie the Chauffer to fake a death certificate. By doing so, he threw Beggar off Stan’s scent.
Ultimately, Stan meant too much to Charlie for him to allow any misfortune to befall him. Thus, once he realized the town and its criminal underworld, even those kind to Stan, were moving against him, Charlie ensured the other man could fall into an easy retirement. Nevertheless, given the numerous lives that ended through Beggar’s attack, Charlie’s revenge quest was inevitable since he needed to avenge his colleagues.
Do Charlie And Marcie End Up Together?
Even though the film remains focused on its crime-driven action storyline, a subtle romantic subplot simultaneously unfolds on screen between Charlie and Marcie. The pair share a number of similarities, including their jaded outlook on life. Yet, neither can truly give up hope for a brighter future. While Marcie likes to hide behind a tough facade, she desperately wants to achieve her taxidermy dreams and make a name for herself in the field.
Similarly, although Charlie plays tough hitman by the day, he has a secret hobby of looking through Italian real estate to plan for a fantasy retirement. Therefore, the two easily establish a rapport after their initial meeting. Once Charlie’s mission is completed, he remains in contact with Marcie. Furthermore, he also procures a fifty thousand reward from Stan for her efforts in helping them bring down Beggar.
Since money has been Marcie’s driving motive throughout the film, Charlie almost expects her to move to Baton Rouge, where an incredible Taxidermy opportunity awaits her. Nonetheless, Marcie suggests the pair use the money to buy furniture for Charlie’s dream Italian house in Tuscany, where the woman can find another equally thrilling job opportunity. Thus, the pair ends up moving to Tuscany together, where they will continue to build their relationship together.
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