Charlie Bartlett – Review

Charlie Bartlett – 2007 – Comedy, Drama, Coming of Age

Directed by: Jon Poll
Written by: Gustin Nash
Main Players: Anton Yelchin; Robert Downey Jr.; Hope Davis; Kat Dennings; Tyler Hilton; Dylan Taylor; Mark Rendall

Charlie Bartlett Ver4 Xlg 1740720968

Bright uber-rich kid Charlie (Yelchin) gets expelled from private school over making quality fake IDs for his compatriots. It wasn’t for the money, but Charlie was finally starting to connect with the kids in class this way. Instead, it’s public school for him after mom (Davis) can’t buy off the school over the illegal IDs, his dad remains out of the picture, and no other private school will take him back.

Charlie is suddenly even further out of water than usual at the local high school. After quickly finding his face in a toilet while the stereotypical bully (Hilton) welcomes him, he meets the principal (Downey Jr.) and finds it hard to make any friends conventionally at lunch. After he scares off the popular kids, Charlie allows unpopular kid Len (Taylor) to sit with him to eat, seeing no problem with his odd speech impediments. This act and a fairly wild play audition catch the eye of local school cutie Susan (Dennings).

Charlie is clearly very bright, and while adjusting to his very new school environment, the movie takes a few nice atypical turns. New business partnerships arise as well as romantic prospects. Charlie’s unconventional approach to people gives him multiple ideas to help both himself, and others. Not wanting to spoil all plot moments, suffice it to say Charlie and the aforementioned characters wind up tangled up in fun and untraditional ways.

While it is a Coming-of-Age high school comedy which is a totally familiar setting, the script sets it apart from most others by being creative in fun ways and realistic in others. It is funny and silly at times, but also solemn and serious when it needs to be.

The experience is heightened with a great cast, especially in the lead roles. Anton Yelchin is per usual spectacular, and it is always bittersweet to see him on the screen again. As the movie progresses and Pre-Iron Man Downey Jr. gets more involved, he shows his usual gusto and brings life to all his scenes.

Warning to Kendrick Lamar fans: Drake has a bit role in this movie.

See This If You Liked:

Easy A; Mean Girls (2004; 2024); The Edge of Seventeen (2016); The Spectacular Now; Garden State; Heathers; Adventureland; Say Anything; Election; Middle of Nowhere (2008)

Score:

7.5

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Keep Me in the Loop

Get all the latest news

Scroll to Top