Charlie Bartlett


3.5/4

Starring: Anton Yelchin, Robert Downey, Jr., Kat Dennings, Hope Davis

Rated R for Language, Drug Content, and Brief Nudity

I LOVE CHARLIE BARTLETT!

Never has there been a high school age character that is this cool!  Compared to Charlie, Ferris Bueller is a first-class dork.  He may not have the looks of Chad Michael Murray, but he is totally awesome.

Charlie Bartlett (Yelchin) is a rich troublemaker.  There hasn’t been a private school he hasn’t been kicked out of, so now he has to try public school.  In an attempt to be popular (and to cause trouble), Charlie becomes a psychiatrist to the student populace.  This causes no end of grief for the principal, Mr. Gardener (Downey, Jr,) and not just because Charlie is romancing his daughter Susan (Dennings).

It’s not easy to completely walk away with a movie when you’re up against Robert Downey, Jr., but that’s exactly what Anton Yelchin does.  As played by Yelchin, Charlie Bartlett is the coolest and most likable character to come into any high school.  He’s earnest, but not a saint.  Funny, but not a caricature.  And when he screws up (which he does from time to time), he tries to make things right.  Although he’s just a spoiled troublemaker at the beginning, he grows more than any other character in this film (and EVERYONE undergoes a change in this movie).

Yelchin is the main reason to see this film, but he’s not the only one.  Downey Jr. is great and well rounded as the alcoholic principal.  He’s suspicious of Charlie, but he also tries to do the right thing by his daughter (and his conscience).  Yelchin (who should have gotten an Oscar nod for this film) has sizzling chemistry with Kat Dennings, and this is handled naturally by the two young actors.  Hope Davis is also funny as Charlie’s flighty mother, Marilyn.  Also of note are two supporting roles: Tyler Hilton as the school bully (and Charlie’s co-conspirator), Murph, and Mark Rendall as the depressed geek, Kip Crombwell.  Both are surprisingly well-rounded characters.

Although this film is primarily a comedy, it doesn’t shy away from weighty material.  In addition to drug use and fraud, the film addresses teen suicide, alcoholism and the distance between parent and child.  The film does manage to change tone with relative ease (something that apparently only I believe).

The MPAA gave this film an R rating, and while it’s understandable why they did so, this is one movie that is really ideal for teenagers.  This is something they can really relate to, certainly more than any other teen movie that I’ve seen.  Luckily, it’s on DVD, and they should have no problem getting their hands on a copy.  The problem is getting them to want to, since the marketing for the film was less than impressive.

What’s really interesting about this movie is that the script and the director take chances.  They don’t always work, but they’re interesting nonetheless.  The ending is especially troublesome, but overall this is a very entertaining movie.

At the end of the movie, one thought entered my mind:

WHERE THE HELL WAS CHARLIE BARTLETT WHEN I WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL?

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