REVIEW: Charm City takes a stark look at a growing urban nightmare gone haywire

The city of Baltimore has always had a dubious reputation for urban decay, deterioration, and destruction. It does have its intrinsic charm as it once thrived as a busy east coast seaport center and the hub for manufacturing businesses. In all fairness, America is notoriously saturated with neglected cities around the nation beleaguered by massive disenfranchised populations, drugs, rising poverty, corrosive local governmental practices and policies, escalating crime rates and war-torn neighborhoods. Nevertheless, Baltimore receives the instant bad wrap for its pronounced decadence and disillusionment. In fact, popular television shows about Baltimore's underbelly of seediness such as the revered and realistic NBC's  Homicide: Life on the Streets and HBO's The Wire have captured the horrific images of one of Maryland's polarizing inner cities. 

Filmmaker Marilyn Ness' disturbing and defiant documentary Charm City scrapes more than the surface in providing a shocking insight into Baltimore's intensifying plight. When showcasing the epidemic of violence especially when it profoundly affects the daily lives of the largely poor minorities handcuffed by their sinister circumstances and the indifference of the city officials Ness skillfully points her observational eye at the overt frustrations of Baltimore's bleak boundaries.

Thoroughly involving and moving Charm City is both oddly inspirational and nightmarish in its raw presentation. Ness oversees a different kind of horror show that would give the Stephen Kings and Wes Cravens of the world tingly goosebumps because of the disenfranchised residents and the few well-meaning city officials and civic leaders that are overwhelmed and unequipped to deal with Baltimore's omnipresent crime and grime. Ness cozies up to the suffocation of degradation and detachment that impede the jeopardized lives of the overall exposed community just looking to exist within this ferocious fishbowl of drug dealers, gang activity, and random murders.   

The poor and the powerless in Charm City may appear as totally voiceless to the outsider looking in the circle of cynicism. On the contrary, Ness ensures that the outrage of Baltimore's vulnerable citizens is addressing the overwrought issues of impoverishment and injustice by airing their concerns as a call to action. The urging for change and optimism is there for the taking as the tired and committed people, police and politicians try to formulate an attack on Baltimore's assault of criminal presence. However, the destitution is hovering over the weakened much like an explosive gray cloud. It appears that the low (drug dealers, corruptible cops, shady politicians, etc.) are living high. The turbulent street life--highlighted by dilapidated buildings, trashed sidewalks, boarded drug dens, etc.--is a constant reminder as to how much the ravaged region is lacking in economic stability.

Charm City is certainly not without its heroes and/or martyrs in the name of political strife. For instance, Ness delves into the aftermath of the controversial police custody death of Freddie Gray...something that would understandably raise eyebrows concerning the historical distrust of some roguish cops' adversarial behavior toward urbanized people of color. Also, a brief look at wounded community leader Clayton Guyton is practically celebrated by the drug pushers relieved that his meddling and activism has quieted down a bit. Of course, we get a close-up view at the beginning of the film where the neighborhood cleaning crew discuss the latest shooting incident in the nocturnal streets of Baltimore as if they were casually discussing the weather. Also to further highlight the urgency of citywide demise in Charm City we are giving factual footnotes such as July 15, 2015: Baltimore is on pace to hit the highest per capita murder rate in the city's history.

Absolute in its sobering truth, Ness' Charm City stokes the fire of anger and sympathy for those that profess to have compassion and decency for looking at an unkind spotlight that dares to expose the concrete callousness of beleaguered Baltimore's endangered human condition.