Charlie Bartlett, Anton Yelchin, is a wealthy, good-intentioned student who strives for popularity. He made a habit of being expelled from every private school in the area, and now faces something new, public school.
The hellish reality that is high school is something the blazer-wearing young man comes to know by a fist to the eye from the school bully, played by Tyler Hilton.
His mother, played by Hope Davis, reacts the only way she knows how and sends him the psychiatrist that is on call for the family. Charlie is wrongly prescribed Ritalin, and after taking too much risks selling the stimulants to make a profit.
Charlie sells out at the school dance, making a pretty penny and turning the dance into a rave like atmosphere. After a fellow student approaches him for more pills, the fast-thinking, smooth-talking kid gets an idea. He opens a psychiatrist’s office in a place only The Fonz could appreciate: the boy’s bathroom.
In confession style sessions between stalls, Charlie begins prescribing and providing drugs to help the troubled teens and raises his popularity level. Everyone comes to him since he offers something no one else will-an ear to chew and an easy escape.
As much as I like the movie, the main character still rubs me the wrong way. I think he watched Ferris Bueller’s Day Off one too many times as a child. His clean cut hairstyle, leading charisma and winning smile make it a close call. The difference between the two is Ferris never wanted to be cool, he just was.
Charlie is a needy kid whose personal anguish is caused by the smallest of problems. His know-it-all cocky attitude is faulted by admitting he is “just a kid”. Ferris would have never done that. He always has control of every situation. Charlie is more of what Ferris’ best friend, Cameron Fry, would be like if he decided to imitate his best friend.
The false self-esteem does make him more relatable, but not someone to look up to. The movie is decent for a laugh, but as a whole, it falls short of being a classic in the never-ending genre of high school comedies/melodrama. One saving grace is the irony behind the alcoholic principal who tries to stop the drug ring, played by Robert Downey, Jr.
Charlie Bartlett went quietly to DVD on June 24, 2008. It was only in the theaters for about four months prior to its release. Its short big screen life only makes it more of a surprise when it is found on the rental shelves. It is a movie that provides enough entertainment for a night, but could be easily forgotten with time, but it will at least make you laugh.