Gorgeous cinematography, an interesting story and a strong turnout from the fantastic Cate Blanchett make this worth a watch even if ultimately the whole thing gets a bit draggy.It has a very old school war-romance vibe going and is beautiful to look at; the costumes, the scenery, the acting is top notch. Blanchett pours emotion into her role and is very believable as a young Scottish woman who enlists as an espionage agent for the French resistance during World War II. As she's fluent in French Charlotte is recruited as an agent, but her reasons for taking the mission are actually to find the fate of her missing lover, an RAF pilot who has been shot down behind enemy lines.Assuming a new name 'Dominique' parachutes into German occupied France and is taken in by a local family, where she works to support the Resistance while also becoming entangled in the lives of an old man played brilliantly by (Michael Gambon), two young Jewish boys in hiding and Billy Crudup the irresistible leader of the resistance. Crudup puts in a good turn here too, its not a role I've seen from him before. The story is unique and intense but unfortunately the whole effort just comes off as kind of dull. 2/28/16

In the midst of WWII, Charlotte Gray (Cate Blanchett) falls for dashing pilot Peter Gregory. She is recruited into the secret service since she spent time in France and is fluent. When Peter is lost behind the lines, she pushes to get the courier job for the French Resistance. Only she has the ulterior motive to find her missing love. Once on french soil, she finds french communist fighter Julien Levade (Billy Crudup).This is an utterly old fashion melodrama. That has less to do with the setting or time period. It has more to do with the style and the subject matter. The romance has no time to develop and has a very superficial manufactured old romance novel feel. Other than a pretty face, there is nothing to justify the grand romance being depicted. It would probably be more compelling to have this about a family member. Cate Blanchett is a truly wonderful actress, and any positives from this movie are all due to her. There is a sense of danger but it doesn't persist. Director Gillian Armstrong has made a beautiful movie. It just doesn't have better passion or excitement.

Charlotte Gray is beautifully filmed, but I found the story somewhat disjointed. She is asked to go to France before her boyfriend is shot down, so her first reason for going is not because she is looking for him. They fall "in love" after a one-night stand? So typical of Hollywood. The man heading the cell in France says he is a Communist; he never says the group is communist. Even so, another incident of Hollywood making the communists look like the good guys, when in fact, Communism is even more harsh than Nazism or Fascism (count the number of people killed by each regime). The dialogue was hard to hear in parts of the movie, as it was too softly spoken (audio editor problem). There are some heart-wrenching scenes and one does get the feel of occupied France. I didn't understand why she had to dye her hair---undercover men do not do so, and it was probably hard to obtain hair color during the war. Then at the end of the movie, her hair is an in-between color: not her normal blonde as in the beginning, nor the dark brunette of her resistance days.

I was able to see this via Netflix streaming video.Near the beginning of WW2, Cate Blanchett is fictional Scot Charlotte Gray. She happens to meet James Fleet as Richard Cannerly, a RAF pilot, and it is love at first sight. But they soon are separated when he goes to fly in France, and is soon shot down and missing.Charlotte is fluent in French and volunteers to train for an undercover resistance mission in France, she says because of her patriotic duty. But she really is going in some way to find and save the pilot. If he is even still alive.Among the dozens she encounters is Billy Crudup as French Communist Julien Levade, who makes a lot of noise, helps the resistance, and always narrowly avoids being arrested or shot. He and Charlotte have mostly a dislike for one-another, but as often happens in this type of story changes over time. Also good is Michael Gambon as Levade, Julian's father with a large home in the country, and who also happens to be providing shelter for two Jewish boys whose parents have been taken away. Overall not a terribly good story, which settles eventually in a love triangle, but it is interesting to see how that period in France is portrayed, an uneasy peace between the Germans occupying north France, the south of France still controlled by the French.SPOILERS: Charlotte never finds her pilot, the Jewish boys are trucked away, as well as the old man for having Jewish grandparents. When Charlotte safely returns to London, her pilot eventually shows up too. He is eager to take up where they left off, but war has changed her. When peace breaks out and the war is over, she returns to France to find Julien, identifies her real name, and they embrace.