Genres

Visitors Review

Lloyd Bayer 2012-05-19 11:12:51

Yelchin's departure from juvenile roles.

If you cried over Anton Yelchin in "Alpha Dog", you will most probablyadore him as Charlie Bartlett. As the title character, he plays a richkid with a fantasy of becoming the most popular student in high school.The means he adopts to achieve this goal often gets him expelled fromexclusive private schools. The most recent being mass production offake driver's licenses. His aristocrat mother (Hope Davis) is left withno choice but to send him to the community public school. At first hesuffers a culture shock and even painfully faces the school bully, anact that is now cliché in high school related films. A black eye later,Charlie decides to handle the situation himself, by setting up amake-shift stall handing out prescription medication and counselingthose in need. This stunt not only makes him highly popular over night,yet wins the affection of the principal's daughter, much to the dismayof the principal himself thereby becoming Charlie's only opposition.A thin line exists between comedy and drama as the film deals withcommon high school issues like bullying, acceptance versus depression,peer pressure and ultimately parent-child relationships. It also dealswith the modern crisis of unchecked domestic drug usage and substanceabuse.In what seems like a career boosting role, Yelchin even surpassesRobert Downy Jr as Principal Gardner, exhibiting a variety of skills insinging, dancing and comedy, even show casing his abilities in fightscenes along side romance. Downey Jr accurately portrays an overprotective father struggling to raise a defiant teenager while givingin to alcoholism, a parallel reality he is said to have finallyovercome.This film will appeal to mature teenagers, though parental caution isrecommended. Parents too can learn a thing or two about what their kidsare capable of, if things go unsupervised. At the core, "CharlieBartlett" is a heart felt story that transcends Yelchin from a childactor into bigger roles as an adult.

2012-05-18 18:52:12

Aiming fo a Pump Up The Volume type movie...

...and i was ok with that. it was a cute high school movie about a boy who just wanted to be accepted and unfortunately hits the nail on the head as for the way high school are now a days. of course they throw in some unbelievable aspects of this but thats what makes it a movie. i enjoyed it and believe this a movie for the new generation.

Emily 2012-05-17 17:53:00

A great movie

Charlie Bartlett is one of those rare movies that really get youthinking afterward. It actually portrays the average high school intoday's society. It makes you think about the problems and pressures ofthis corrupted generation. It is not the average high school movie thatyou see everyday. The basic thing it is trying to tell you is thatpopularity is not as important as what you do with it. Charlie goesover his problems by helping others, while most other seventeen yearold kids would just wallow in their own self pity. What it shows isthat not all teenagers are just stupid, mindless popularity zombies, infact, most teens have a very good realization of what the real worldis. Basically, it is a great movie that you should a chance, it willsurprise you.

ZebraGreg 2012-05-17 08:17:23

Starts strong, but finishes like an After-School Special

This is the story: Charlie Bartlett, Anton Yelchin, is expelled fromprivate school, and is sent to the public school by his rich Mom. Hehas high school outsider adventures until he sets himself up as anamateur psychiatrist with a illicit pharmacy, and then everyone loveshim including the principal's daughter, Susan, played by Kat Dennings.The principal, played by Robert Downey Jr, has his own mental healthissues, and this is an interesting plot twist, rather like FerrisBueller's Day Off.There are engaging performances from Anton Yelchin and Robert DowneyJr. They are fun to watch. I would like to see more from Anton. KatDennings and Hope Davis give interesting performances, but theircharacters are not as rich.The first half of the movie where Charlie has problems and needs tosolve them is far more interesting than when he is solving otherpeople's problems. I did like the Kip Crombwell suicide episode. This movie could have used some punched up dialog. It makes meappreciate Diablo Cody's Juno. The end was embarrassingly sappy. Ialmost closed my eyes.

campkllyrsf-1 2012-05-07 20:35:45

Finally, a high school movie that captures what high school's like these days.

Charlie BartlettFinally, a movie taking place in a high school that actually captures alot about what goes on in high school these days.Charlie Bartlett, played by Anton Yelchin, is a 17 year old kid from awealthy family, and has pretty much anything he could want, materially.But, he's got a knack for getting kicked out of every private schoolhe's been sent to. This last one, he made and sold a load of fake I.D.sto kids at the school. When asked why, he said it wasn't for the money,just to be popular. His mother tells him there's more to high schoolthan being liked, but unable to answer when asked "like what?" byCharlie. Charlie is then sent to a public school where he struggles to makefriends and become liked. After being prescribed Ritalin for possiblyhaving ADD, he decides to sell it at the school once he finds the"high" Ritalin can give. He then holds sessions in the men's bathroomwhere he would get students' symptoms and tell them to his ownpsychiatrist and sell them to the kids at the school. This was the meat of the trailers and promotions, but it's actuallyonly a small portion of the story. The story all together is just aboutthis kid who tries to become popular in his high school "hell" and indoing so, ultimately tries to find out what's important. The script is very well written, though some may call it scattered. Iam also a very scattered writer when it comes to stories, I bouncearound a bit, so I can see how something like that can happen with astory that can go in any direction like this one can. Some may loseinterest, or lose track of what's going on, but if you catch the tonechanges, it's very clever and thought out.The best thing about this movie are the characters. Charlie Bartlett issuch a likable guy and you stay with him throughout the entire film.His love interest, who happens to be the principle's daughter, playedby Kat Dennings, You may have seen her as the daughter in 40 Year OldVirgin, is also easy to befriend. And her father, the Principle playedby Robert Downey Jr. does an incredible job. You want to hate him, butyou like him at the same time. He also plays a great on screen drunk. There are a couple clichéd characters, but even so, almost all thecharacters feel real and like you can pick them out at your own school.Either person to character or a few people to one character, you canspot them. Unlike most high school movies that have been released in the past,this one doesn't try to be preachy. There's maybe one scene where itdoes, but it's in a play, so it does fit. It's very accurate on theangst and the view kids now have on the importance of popularity is tothem. Some people are calling this the "Ferris Bueller of our time", I maynot quite call it that, but it's close. Let's not forget that this isan R rated movie. I went in thinking this was another PG-13, but whenthe second F word came out, I immediately re-established my thought onhow this movie was going to play out on how much it was going to showand how far it was going to go. And I'm glad it was R, you can't getthis realism of high school with those PG-13 movies anymore. HS now hastons of kids cursing a storm and a lot more risqué themes and plainsexual things that go on. This movie doesn't hold back on this justbecause it's taking place in a high school, and I'm happy they didthat. Final Score: 8.4/10 A very smart and well written and acted movie. Ifit weren't for the likable characters, the movie would not have workedas well as it did. Not really a first date movie, and if you're goingto see it with your parents/child, there probably will be a lot oftalking on the car ride home. But that could be a very good thing,because this movie does bring up how important communication is inparent/child relationships. Well worth the full price admission.

Paul Celano 2012-05-07 07:50:17

Charlie the young doctor

This was a funny little movie, but I wouldn't say it had a lot goingfor it. The story line was decent, but not as strong as you would wantto to be. But that makes for a nice Sunday afternoon movie where youdon't have to think a lot. It does have some light comedy and tries toshow a life lesson, but only succeeds about sixty percent. I did enjoythe dialog, but mostly from the main character played by Anton Yelchin.He was a joy to watch. He had some pretty great acting skills. The restof the cast was OK to not so good. Robert Downey Jr. was a big name inthis film, but didn't seem to fit his part too well. The love interestof the main character is played by Kat Dennings who at sometimes seemedpretty good and others, a bit off. There is one character that buggedme and it was played by Tyler Hilton. He really didn't have the actingskills or the look for his character. Then you have Hope Davis whodidn't seem to fit very well. The whole outcome of the film was funnyto watch, but if you cut it up, you start to see a lot of things wrong.

barrys82 2012-05-04 21:55:35

Charlie Bartlett: A unique and entertaining comedy

Charlie Bartlett is a good movie, nothing spectacular but it fulfilledmy expectations very well. It is a very well written comedy with theperfect amount of drama. It is funny but not because its full of jokesor gags, the humor of this movie is a consequence of the situations init. The plot about a wealthy teen (Yelchin) goes to a new public highschool and ingratiates himself into its social fabric by using hischarm to become the school's resident "psychiatrist" is good, its likea glimpse of how teenagers live nowadays. The cast composed entirely byyoung actors with the exception of Downey Jr. is good and they actedwell. Robert Downey was good, Anton Yelchin in the role of Charlie, hisperformance was great. He was a excellent complement for Downey Jr. Therest of the cast like Kat Dennings and Hope Davis were a great supportfor the movie. In conclusion, this is an entertaining movie that isworthy just to watch Downey Jr. and Yelchin acting together.

2012-05-04 08:48:36

Aiming fo a Pump Up The Volume type movie...

This review is from: Charlie Bartlett (DVD) ...and i was ok with that. it was a cute high school movie about a boy who just wanted to be accepted and unfortunately hits the nail on the head as for the way high school are now a days. of course they throw in some unbelievable aspects of this but thats what makes it a movie. i enjoyed it and believe this a movie for the new generation.

2012-05-02 01:29:47

flawed but enjoyable teen comedy

***1/2Charlie 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 paranoid (but actually kind of cool) principal, both for his illegal activities in the john and for the romantic interest he's taken in the man's own daughter, who also happens to be a student at the school. Written by Gustin Nash and directed by Jon Poll, "Charlie Bartlett" is a cut above the average teen comedy thanks to generally sophisticated writing, winning performances by Anton Yelchin, Robert Downey, Jr., Hope Davis and Kat Dennings and the satirical swipe it takes at a culture that subscribes to the notion that a pharmaceutical a day will keep the blues away. The movie also comes replete with a couple of nice, comfy moral lessons to make us all feel better about ourselves in the end - namely, that we shouldn't compromise our integrity to achieve popularity, and that we need to learn to channel our creativity in a more "positive" direction if we hope to make anything of ourselves in this life. In short, "Charlie Bartlett" is a "daring" comedy that doesn't really dare very much when all is said and done. Yet, while the movie does lose much of its edge in the second half - succumbing to too many "feel good" comedy cliches and only-in-the-movies moments - it still manages to leave us smiling in the end.

movedout 2012-05-01 12:22:34

Is this film too cool for the room?

There are powerful reminders of older, better films in "CharlieBartlett". It harks back to the 80s' teenage ennui and the 90s' ensuinghipster cynicism, with its hands digging deep into the WesAnderson/John Hughes/Alexander Payne playbook and is as artificiallyconstructed as the temporary highs its adolescents gets fromprescription panaceas. Fresh and quirky is the promise that fails todeliver in Jon Poll's derivative directorial debut, a snarky andmarginally clever film that already seems to be a legend in its ownmind.It's all about the tone when it comes to a film that unevenly straddlesthe lines between an incisive teen comedy on contemporary mores andsocial critiques or whether it starts to extend a warm-hearted humanismthat glibly presents itself as group therapy for a culturally inducedProzac Nation. Preppy Charlie Bartlett (Anton Yelchin), the titularattention-seeking mandarin, an obnoxious blowhard by way of HoldenCaulfield who repugnantly deals in ironic rejoinders and self-consciousquips is oddly, our protagonist. It looks like young Byrd Huffstod'sgrown up to be a bit of a self-satisfied prick.Yelchin has always been an immensely likable actor, whose strength hasalways traditionally belonged in his unassuming, wide-eyed view of theworld, delivered with soft-spoken optimism and an underlying kindness.But in "Charlie Bartlett", Yelchin becomes the smarmy anti-thesis ofwhat sustains his charms, and while not begrudging his change ofdirection, the dissonance here is staggering.Charlie, or Dr. Charlie as he becomes known in the hallways of his newpublic school after being kicked out of yet another privateinstitution, the prestigious Castlewood School, is a buddingentrepreneur butting heads with his nemesis, Principal Nathan Gardner(Robert Downey Jr.) for influence over the school's student body and inparticular, the sunshiny Goth chick Susan (Kat Dennings) who happens tobe the Principal's daughter. Charlie sets up stall, literally, in theboy's bathroom and starts to dole out advice and more importantly,selling prescription poppers (Ritalin, Xanax, Zoloft etc.) to harriedteenagers and disconnected kids. Poll's enthrallment with thebaby-faced Charlie's superiority complex enters dangerously recklessand self-involved terrain – he implicitly posits that the mini-Docisn't doing something any more wrong that what drug-enabling medicalbusinesses around the country are already doing when Charlie hoards hisstash by feigning symptoms to various psychiatrists who are only tooglad to ply him with more drugs. By prioritising its social commentarybefore the actions of Charlie, Poll betrays his story and hischaracters quite conclusively.Is "Charlie Bartlett" just too cool for the room? All signs point toyes, for the most part. The film's perverse, albeit cheap thrill of theblind leading the blind, and its inherently inhuman condescension ofdysfunction goes the way of smug caricature. But despite thedisingenuous diversions that pockmark the film, there's a certain,palpable level of cheeky joy that film revels in. There's not so muchoutrage in the film as there is misplaced wit and sympathy that thefilm enjoys from its veteran casting of an acerbic Downey and aunstable Hope Davis as Charlie's boozehound mother that treats him justtoo much like an adult for their own good. It's this centre of humilityin the film that keeps it from going too far into the deep end of acesspool of derisive histrionics of self-obsessed privilegedlifestyles, and reminds us that underneath all the blue blazers andcocksure swagger is a lonely, poor little rich boy yearning for adultand peer validation alike.

ek11520 2012-04-29 16:43:42

absolutely HILARIOUS

I don't even want to explain the movie, just go and see it. itsHILARIOUS, and Anton Yelchin is extremely talented and absolutelyperfect for the role of Charlie. he is so so so so funny. and RobertDowney Jr's performance is superb as well. I would also argue that thegirl Charlie dates is a wonderful new actress. It contains just theproper amount of comedy and depth. I laugh just thinking about some ofthe scenes. Anton is an amazing comedian. Certain scenes when I thinkabout I actually laugh out loud. This movie needs to win tons ofawards, because its brilliant. Absolutely amazing. Seriously, go seeit. now.

jerry_rosco 2012-04-29 03:07:23

ads better than movie

It's not a bad movie, and it's a little more than a TV movie, but justa little. The ads make you expect something smarter, hipper, morebelievable. And while the storyline is much more complex that FerrisBeuhler's Day Off, the film evokes some of that platform but can'tmeasure up, because its star is no Matthew Broderick. And because thestory jumps through hoops of unbelievability much more suited for avery, very young GP audience, when a bit of good writing could havemade it somewhat believable. Instead you sink in your movie seat andhope not to be spotted by anyone who knows you, and you have visions ofthat 10 (or 11 or 12) dollars ticket price flapping away like a bird.

Kiona 2012-04-29 00:20:17

Wow.

I wanted to see this film for the sole fact that someone comes out at some point. However, this was the one of the biggest cinematic surprises I've ever gotten. The lines, the acting, the everything was so spot on. And it didn't hurt that I found Charlie to be a very relateable character as well as a witty and charming one. The relationships, the plot development...I don't care who it may have been a sort of tribute to, or what other films it may have alluded to. It was spontaneous, eclectic and fun while maintaining modern day value that I really appreciated.

atreffet 2012-04-28 18:29:11

Pretty Bad

I can not believe the glowing reviews of this movie. I found the movieto be poorly written, choppy and ultimately boring. The scenesregarding the effects of Ritalin were ridiculous and over the top. Itseemed the f word was dropped several times for no reason other than togain the R rating. I thought many scenes seemed forced or unnecessary.The ending seemed to drag as loose-ends were tied up that no one in theaudience cared much about. Contrary to what some one else has written Isee no comparison to Rushmore or Pump up the Volume, both movies whichI think are fantastic. All in all, not only am I glad I didn't pay tosee this movie, I wish I had the 90 minutes back.

Vincentiu 2012-04-26 11:54:02

Answers

Nice, racy, intelligent, a good comedy about high school, its rules andthe lanes of alienation. The charm of Anton Yelchin is axis of movieand, behind the clothes of humor are pieces of great problem ofloneliness A movie about the beauty of life, searches and discoveries,delicate and powerful, with a great Robert Downey in the role ofprincipal.A film like a travel. Maps and ways, symbols and guides andthe tent. A boy and the world as puzzle. His puzzle in which theatmosphere of house creates fragile solutions of problems who makes thesoul of an age and the self respect of a teenager. Almost a comedy. Infact, a medicine with the taste of sweet spring fruits. Must see! Forthe nostalgic pages of a time precious for everyone.

Desiree 2012-04-26 04:07:13

Charlie Bartlett warmed my heart

Though, this movie has been done many times before and strongly remindsme of Ferris Bueller's day off, which (I hated), It also struck me as aBreakfast Club wannabe. Despite these comparisons, I loved this movie.I can't really tell you why. I think it is because I am just ever socharmed by Anton Yelchin. I think he is phenomenal, ever since I sawhim in Alpha Dog, it was love at first sight.This type of plot is always popular and well received, as many times asit is done because people love the idea of the endearing underdogcoming out on top in the end. I think that people, no matter thecircumstance, relate themselves to the character.I was under the impression that this film was a light comedy. I wasvery wrong. I was shocked and completely blind sided by the intense andserious moments that occur. The entire first half of the movie is lightand funny whereas the second half of the film is dark and edgy. Itdidn't really match up; it felt like I changed the channel mid movieand was watching the same movie done with a different mood.Nevertheless, you learn to go with the flow and enjoy the surprises.This is a good film but I wouldn't recommend going to see it. Waituntil it comes out on DVD and rent it.

2012-04-24 15:27:47

good

This review is from: Charlie Bartlett (DVD) i haven't seen this movie before, bought it without knowing exactly what it was about, and i'm glad i did...disc is in perfect condition as promised and it was such a good movie

2012-04-24 01:12:24

high-school hodgepodge

Okay, so the first 45 minutes of 'Charlie Bartlett' are pretty good. We are introduced to the title character, a rich kid who is forced to attend public school after being expelled from his prep school. Beat up and picked on by the other kids, he is put on ritalin for anxiety, and after discovering its potential for inebriation, he devises a scheme to sell the drug to the kids at his high school with the help of the school bully. He ends up playing shrink to the entire school, charming everybody with his positive attitude and high spirit.After this initial setup, the movie descends into a hopeless hodgepodge of movie cliches. The tone shifts from wild and crazy to sappy and sentimental in about the amount of time it takes to say "script doctor." The movie steals liberally from a laundry list of much better movies, including 'Pump Up The Volume,' 'Heathers,' 'Angus,' and especially 'Rushmore.' There is not a cliched teen issue that the movie doesn't exploit. I'd say enjoy the first 45 minutes, but prepare yourself for the maudlin and melodramatic remaining 50.

onaveryisle 2012-04-23 02:30:31

Good movie, lacks direction

I saw this movie not really knowing what to expect. I half expected tosee another playful teen comedy while part of me hoped it could besomething more. The beginning is wildly funny with some great,memorable moments. The problem is that the first and second halves seemdisjointed. The movie couldn't pick whether it wanted to be a comedy ora drama. For example, a high school party turns from a wild rave to adepressing (although intended to be heart felt) talk as the two maincharacters discuss somber topics that give way to an awkward sex scene.Robert Downey Jr. gives a strong performance and this movie could havebeen something special, but the way it was put together holds it back.

2012-04-22 19:22:56

hmm, didn't get it

Charlie Bartlett never really grabbed my attention from the get go. Nothing even remotely interesting or humorous about the storyline ever really came. A teenage boy pretends to be a counselor of some sorts by distributing drugs in a school bathroom. In addition to that, other classmates would frequently visit him and ask for guidance. Charlie Bartlett started off as someone everyone at his school disliked, but eventually he found an ability to win over most of his school mates. The transition from someone who wasn't liked at all to someone EVERYONE liked never really clicked or made sense from a storyline point of view, unless I missed something very very obvious. It's hard to miss something obvious about a storyline laid out in such an easy to follow way, so yeah... I don't get it.I never really found anything particularly interesting about this storyline, nor any of the characters (such as Charlie Bartlett himself, his mother, or the guy who portrayed the bully in the beginning). I just don't get the appeal. What *is* the appeal? Was I supposed to be laughing, treating it as a drama, WHAT exactly? It left me completely cold.