Charlie Bartlett qualifies as one of those “feel good” movies you’re always hearing about in blurbs. Charlie Bartlett features a talented cast spewing sharp dialogue as they march through a well-paced though albeit predictable plot. But even so – the end result is a memorable film that’ll stick with you days afterwards.
Charlie Bartlett (Anton Yelchin) leads a comfortable life but finds it hard to buckle down and obey social expectations. After being kicked out of the last private school his mother (Hope Davis) enrolls him at a local school where the film takes off. Certainly Charlie is an unusual kid – he’s lived in a protective bubble all his life thanks to his mother’s overbearing love. As Charlie goes through the public school routine he undergoes all the stressors of the teenage life: popularity, romance and finding some semblance of personal identity. He finds these things and much more as he relays the psychiatric ramblings of his classmates into a fledgling practice of his own in the bathroom stalls of his public high school.
The overnight popularity and unusual celebrity of Charlie startles Principal Gardner (Robert Downey Jr.) as Charlie seems hell bent on creating an environment where the students are far to0 individualistic to fit within the high school standard. Not to mention that Charlie’s dating Susan (Kat Dennings) Gardner’s daughter. As you might expect from a typical teen flick, Charlie butts heads with the authority figures as he racks up friends within the student body. Think Ferris Bueller charisma mixed with a little bit of Woody Allen neuroticism. Yeah, that sounds right.
Charlie’s private psychiatric practice comes tumbling down as a student attempts to commit suicide placing Charlie’s attendance at the school in jeopardy. Can Charlie rally the support needed to make everything right in the world? Will he finally open up?
As I said, the plot of Charlie Bartlett doesn’t offer anything particularly new but makes up for it with great performances by everyone involved. Anton Yelchin, whom you may recognize from Alpha Dog, has a certain lackadaisical charm that may very well be his greatest gift and flaw as an actor. On one hand the performance borders on arrogance which fits poorly with the supposedly insecure teenager Charlie Bartlett is made out as. On the other hand the laid-back demeanor makes the scenes in the psychiatric offices all the funnier. They’re not quite Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting funny – but I don’t think they’ll ever be able to top a little Afternoon Delight rendition. Anton Yelchin delivers well enough for what the film requires.
Robert Downey Jr. keeps delivering performances that I can’t help but applaud. He seems to be one of the most talented middle-aged actors out there today and his performance in Charlie Bartlett far exceeds what the script deserves. While many of the other characters find themselves mired in the “feel good” messages of the dialogue, Downey’s delivery elevates him beyond these problems allowing even the most half-assed heartfelt moments to shine. His best scene comes towards the end of the film as his coping mechanism breaks down and he sinks in a boat. He’s superb.
Hope Davis may be one of the most underappreciated actresses. She’s fantastic in every film she touches and Charlie Bartlett is no exception. She plays the slightly cookie mother all too well. Walking the fine line between showering her uncontrollable son with adoration and consolation Hope Davis helps elevate Charlie Bartlett’s ho-hum premise much the same way as Downey does.
Kat Dennings plays an odd character who can’t decide if she’s rebelling against her father or taking care of him after his divorce. This may be why Dennings’s performance feels flawed. Is it her failing as an actress or the paradoxical nature of the character that leads Susan to be such a headcase despite her otherwise normal appearance?
Charlie Bartlett is supposedly a film about people whose lives are more irregular than they'd care to admit; but despite that, all of the characters seem far too well-balanced. It took the Independent Movie formula for the dysfunctional family and watered it down into a family-friendly solution with a feel-good vibe. Charlie Bartlett's a fun movie to be sure, it just comes across as indie-movie lite.
"Charlie Bartlett" opens February 1, 2008 and is rated R. Comedy, Drama. Directed by Jon Poll. Written by Gustin Nash. Starring Hope Davis, Anton Yelchin, Robert Downey Jr, Kat Dennings.
