Charlie Bartlett
starring: Anton Yelchin, Robert Downey Jr., Hope Davis, Kat Dennings, Tyler Hilton
directed by: Jon Poll
directed by: Jon Poll
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Product Description:
THE KIDS AT WESTERN SUMMIT HIGH HAVE ISSUES AND NEWCOMER CHARLIE BARTLETT IS COMING TO THEIR RESCUE. WITH A BRIEFCASE FULL OF PRESCRIPTION PILLS AND A HEAD FULL OF POP PSYCHOLOGY, THIS REBEL A CAUSE BRINGS HILARIOUS HELP TO THE STUDENT BODY AND UNENDING GRIEF TO THEIR NEUROTIC PRINCIPAL, MR. GARDNER (ROBERT DOWNEY)
Amazon.com:
The ghost of Ferris Bueller haunts Charlie Bartlett. In John Hughes' classic comedy, a wily principal chases a clever student all over Chicago. In editor-turned-director Jon Poll's darker-hued enterprise, the hero of the title (Huff's preternaturally poised Anton Yelchin) gets kicked out of private school for selling fake IDs, so his heavily-medicated mother (a reliably excellent Hope Davis) transfers her son to a public institution. Looking like a junior stockbroker in navy blazer and attaché case, he turns into a bully piñata, until he joins forces with surly dealer Murphey (Walk the Line's Tyler Hilton) to sell prescription medication and split the profits (Charlie secures the meds from an assortment of pill-pushing psychiatrists). By listening to their problems and offering well-researched advice, the unlicensed doc becomes the most popular kid on campus. He even captures the interest of self-possessed drama queen Susan (The 40-Year-Old Virgin's Kat Dennings), daughter of booze-soaked Principal Gardner (Robert Downey Jr. in top form). Gardner doesn't trust Charlie, but lacks the evidence to confirm his suspicions--so he sets out to secure some. Once he installs surveillance cameras, the game is on. By the end, the two competitors will have both lost... and won. Aside from Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Charlie Bartlett recalls Wes Anderson's Rushmore, except Poll's Gustin Nash-penned satire trades counter-cultural cool for trenchant commentary about quick-fix solutions to deep-seated dilemmas. That means fewer laughs than its forerunners, but Charlie Bartlett presents a more penetrating analysis of today's generation gap. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
Beyond Charlie Bartlett
Stills from Charlie Bartlett
THE KIDS AT WESTERN SUMMIT HIGH HAVE ISSUES AND NEWCOMER CHARLIE BARTLETT IS COMING TO THEIR RESCUE. WITH A BRIEFCASE FULL OF PRESCRIPTION PILLS AND A HEAD FULL OF POP PSYCHOLOGY, THIS REBEL A CAUSE BRINGS HILARIOUS HELP TO THE STUDENT BODY AND UNENDING GRIEF TO THEIR NEUROTIC PRINCIPAL, MR. GARDNER (ROBERT DOWNEY)
Amazon.com:
The ghost of Ferris Bueller haunts Charlie Bartlett. In John Hughes' classic comedy, a wily principal chases a clever student all over Chicago. In editor-turned-director Jon Poll's darker-hued enterprise, the hero of the title (Huff's preternaturally poised Anton Yelchin) gets kicked out of private school for selling fake IDs, so his heavily-medicated mother (a reliably excellent Hope Davis) transfers her son to a public institution. Looking like a junior stockbroker in navy blazer and attaché case, he turns into a bully piñata, until he joins forces with surly dealer Murphey (Walk the Line's Tyler Hilton) to sell prescription medication and split the profits (Charlie secures the meds from an assortment of pill-pushing psychiatrists). By listening to their problems and offering well-researched advice, the unlicensed doc becomes the most popular kid on campus. He even captures the interest of self-possessed drama queen Susan (The 40-Year-Old Virgin's Kat Dennings), daughter of booze-soaked Principal Gardner (Robert Downey Jr. in top form). Gardner doesn't trust Charlie, but lacks the evidence to confirm his suspicions--so he sets out to secure some. Once he installs surveillance cameras, the game is on. By the end, the two competitors will have both lost... and won. Aside from Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Charlie Bartlett recalls Wes Anderson's Rushmore, except Poll's Gustin Nash-penned satire trades counter-cultural cool for trenchant commentary about quick-fix solutions to deep-seated dilemmas. That means fewer laughs than its forerunners, but Charlie Bartlett presents a more penetrating analysis of today's generation gap. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
Beyond Charlie Bartlett
 More "School Days" Comedies |  The Charlie Bartlett Soundtrack |  More from MGM |
Stills from Charlie Bartlett
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- An unexpected hero in a new century
"Charlie Bartlett" is a film that takes your average teenage rebellion movie and spurs it on to something fierce.It has all the key points of its time: A young boy desperate for attention garners it by creating mass chaos in a school already on the edge.
Here's where the difference comes in: Take out the beach party kids, the attempts at mass domination, and a dead parent.Insert: An awkward and lonely rich child genuinely hoping for the approval and affection of his peers, discovered ... Read More
Rating: - Different and entertaining
The Bottom Line:
Charlie Bartlett benefits from engaging performances by all three leads and a screenplay that doesn't descend to the level of stupid teen pablum; an innovative and interesting story about a high school student who becomes psychiatrist to his classmates, it's well worth watching before something like 10 Things I Hate About You.
Rating: - Skins meets Weeds in this lively teen drama
"Charlie Bartlett" is a run-of-the-mill teen comedy drama with a little twist. The twist being that even though it possesses all the cliches and tropes of its rather limited genre, it somehow manages to go just a little bit deeper than most. Which makes all the difference in the world.
First of all, the main characters are superbly played. Anton Yelchin is immensely adorable, and has quite the emotional range (not to mention his facial expressions range...). I hope he gets to play more roles ... Read More
Rating: 
- A little generic, but enjoyable
Pretty good, but I'm not quite as thrilled with is as some reviewers. Some witty dialogue, and the teens felt like real teenagers in high school, but some of the plot stuff seemed pretty generic. Still, in lesser hands this could have been awful, with the kids coming off and whiners and spoiled brats. Instead they seemed like individuals with real problems (at least with problems that seem real to them). I just could have lived without some of the cliched student-vs-authority plotlines. (Although Robert Downey ... Read More
Rating: - flawed but enjoyable teen comedy
***1/2
Charlie Bartlett is a precocious and enterprising prep school reject who will do just about anything it takes to be popular.This includes sitting in the stall of the boys' restroom at the public school he now attends, dispensing medical and psychiatric advice - along with an assortment of prescription drugs he`s wrangled out of his therapist - to an appreciative (and appreciatively doped-up) student body.The real trouble begins when Charlie eventually comes under the radar of the school's ... Read More
- An unexpected hero in a new century"Charlie Bartlett" is a film that takes your average teenage rebellion movie and spurs it on to something fierce.It has all the key points of its time: A young boy desperate for attention garners it by creating mass chaos in a school already on the edge.
Here's where the difference comes in: Take out the beach party kids, the attempts at mass domination, and a dead parent.Insert: An awkward and lonely rich child genuinely hoping for the approval and affection of his peers, discovered ... Read More
- Different and entertainingThe Bottom Line:
Charlie Bartlett benefits from engaging performances by all three leads and a screenplay that doesn't descend to the level of stupid teen pablum; an innovative and interesting story about a high school student who becomes psychiatrist to his classmates, it's well worth watching before something like 10 Things I Hate About You.
- Skins meets Weeds in this lively teen drama"Charlie Bartlett" is a run-of-the-mill teen comedy drama with a little twist. The twist being that even though it possesses all the cliches and tropes of its rather limited genre, it somehow manages to go just a little bit deeper than most. Which makes all the difference in the world.
First of all, the main characters are superbly played. Anton Yelchin is immensely adorable, and has quite the emotional range (not to mention his facial expressions range...). I hope he gets to play more roles ... Read More
- A little generic, but enjoyablePretty good, but I'm not quite as thrilled with is as some reviewers. Some witty dialogue, and the teens felt like real teenagers in high school, but some of the plot stuff seemed pretty generic. Still, in lesser hands this could have been awful, with the kids coming off and whiners and spoiled brats. Instead they seemed like individuals with real problems (at least with problems that seem real to them). I just could have lived without some of the cliched student-vs-authority plotlines. (Although Robert Downey ... Read More
- flawed but enjoyable teen comedy***1/2
Charlie Bartlett is a precocious and enterprising prep school reject who will do just about anything it takes to be popular.This includes sitting in the stall of the boys' restroom at the public school he now attends, dispensing medical and psychiatric advice - along with an assortment of prescription drugs he`s wrangled out of his therapist - to an appreciative (and appreciatively doped-up) student body.The real trouble begins when Charlie eventually comes under the radar of the school's ... Read More
