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| Available at Amazon.com |
Imagine Rushmore, bastardized into a series on the CW. Then imagine the first season of that series edited into a 100 minute theatrical release.
That’s about what Charlie Bartlett feels like.
Huff‘s Anton Yelchin (Pavel Chekov of the future) plays our title character, a privileged, friendless, virgin, ne’er-do-well who is shuffled into public school after being kicked out of all the private ones. He wears a blazer, carries a briefcase to school, and rides that fabled “short bus”. Naturally, he is bullied. That is, until Bartlett manipulates an idiot man-child to rough up his tormentor.
Distracted by daydreams of people chanting his name, he winds up getting high off of Ritalin. This somehow segues into Charlie Bartlett becoming the school’s bathroom psychotherapist, complete with a pharmacy of psycho-tropic drugs which he recklessly sells to his fellow students with the help of a thug that used to bully him.
Charlie Bartlett becomes popular, gets the principal fired, beds the principal’s daughter, and helps another pale, friendless virgin to launch a play. All in a day’s work, I guess.
The charming Hope Davis plays Charlie’s clueless and irresponsible aristocrat mother. Robert Downey, Jr. stars as the recovering alcoholic history-teacher-trapped-in-a-Principal’s body. The 40 Year Old Virgin‘s Kat Dennings plays Downey’s incredibly bland daughter/Charlie’s love interest.
Charlie Bartlett, the film, never seems to take the time to develop its random collection of story bits. The characters are too loosely drawn, and not particularly interesting. The eponymous Bartlett doesn’t seem to have much of a life outside the 90-odd minute runtime. More often than not, he comes of like an sociopath three steps away from skinning Kat Dennings and wearing her flesh while dancing to “Goodbye Horses” by Q Lazzarus.
All in all, I felt awkward and embarrassed for the movie. So, in a sense, the movie successfully evokes the feelings of being a teenager.
Hey, it runs. I can hear and see everything well.
The DVD offers us widescreen and fullscreen versions of the film.
The Widescreen has on it a Music Video and a Commentary Track featuring the director and the young stars of the film.
The Fullscreen has a Commetary Track featuring the director and the writer of the film. It also features a short called Restroom Confessional which features members of the cast and crew goofing around in the bathroom set of the film.
I’m sure that there are many teenagers that will come to enjoy this film and identify with Charlie Bartlett. Teenagers are stupid that way.
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MGM-Fox presents Charlie Bartlett. Directed by John Poll. Starring Anton Yelchin, Robert Downey Jr., Hope Davis, and Kat Dennings. Written by Gustin Nash. Running time: 97 minutes. Rated RATING. Released on DVD: June 24, 2008. Available at Amazon.com.
About ML Kennedy
