PRINTTake Two: Charlie Bartlett
February 28, 2008 | 12:00 a.m. CST
High school teenagers plus Ritalin divided by screwed up parents equals Charlie Bartlett . If only math formulas were the least of the problems in high school.
It’s back to the days of note passing, name-calling and nerds getting beat up in the boys’ bathroom in the new flick from first-time director Jon Poll, who has spent the majority of his time in Hollywood editing films such as Meet the Parents and Austin Powers.
Charlie Bartlett (Anton Yelchin) is the epitome of the teenage kid desperately seeking popularity in a world of cliques. As a rich kid with a dimwitted mom and a dad in the slammer, Charlie finds himself kicked out of every private school he’s attended. His last resort is the public school system, where he is welcomed with muscular, leather-jacket covered arms that stuff his face into a toilet.
Charlie’s easygoing personality and willingness to help others eventually lands him a role as resident psychiatrist at school, where he runs therapy sessions from a bathroom stall. The whole school becomes dependent on Charlie for every problem they encounter, and his dream of being liked is just a prescription away. Still, no prescription is strong enough to win over Principal Gardner (Robert Downey Jr.), who immediately bumps heads with Charlie when he discovers his bathroom pharmacy.
Charlie Bartlett transforms the typical teen tale. Its delivery of real issues such as depression, prescription drug use and the impact of broken homes stuffs the typical unpopular-kid becomes-popular story into its locker. Audiences will not only laugh at the humor but laugh at how closely the film portrays the pill-happy world we live in.
Vox Rating:
