Charlie Bartlett

Plot synopsis:
The son of a depressed but doting mother (Hope Davis) and a father who is serving time for trafficking, wealthy teenager Charlie Bartlett (Anton Yelchin), - after being expelled from several private academies for various infractions - enrolls in a public school run by embittered alcoholic Principal Nathan Gardner (Robert Downey, Jr.), who was formerly a history teacher. Unable to fit in with most of his fellow students, Charlie forms an alliance with school bully Murphy Bivens (Tyler Hilton) and offers him half the proceeds from the sale of a variety of prescription drugs Charlie obtains by feigning physical and emotional symptoms during sessions with different psychiatrists.
Before long, his natural charm and likability positions him as the school's resident therapist, who offers advice within the confines of the boys bathroom. Charlie's social life noticeably improves as he gains the confidence and admiration of the student body and begins to date the principal's rebellious daughter, Susan (Kat Dennings).
Complications arise when seriously depressed Kip Crombwell (Mark Rendall) attempts suicide by swallowing a handful of anti-depressants provided by Charlie. Charlie befriends Kip after having an in-depth conversation with Principal Gardner. Charlie discovers Kip is writing a play about adolescent issues and pitches it to Gardner who is, at first, unsure but agrees when Kip says that it would make him less inclined to attempt suicide again. The students then have trouble with the student lounge; security cameras get installed, and they start a riot.
One day, Charlie comes by Susan's house to pick her up for a date and he gives her a pharmacy bag. Mr. Gardner comes out, thinking the bag is full of "inappropriate items", and pushes Charlie, who then punches Gardner as a reflex. He tries to apologize, but the principal is not forgiving. Susan and Charlie drive off, and the bag turns out to contain nicotine gum, to help Susan quit smoking cigarettes.
That night, the students are all in the student lounge when the cops arrive. They arrest Charlie for assault, Principal Gardner is fired, and the kids trash the lounge building. Charlie is released, and before the play, stops by Mr. Gardner's house to invite him. Charlie finds Mr. Gardner heavily intoxicated and waving a revolver. They get into a heated argument which culminates in Charlie falling into the pool after attempting to tackle Mr. Gardner, thinking he is about to commit suicide. Mr. Gardner, appearing sober, comes to his senses and dives into the pool to save Charlie and states that he was not attempting to commit suicide because he has too many responsibilities to do such a thing. They talk over their problems about Charlie's father and Susan, and then go to the play. Mr. Gardner takes up his old job as a history teacher again (and is now much happier), and Charlie finally gains the confidence to visit his father in prison (something he had felt uncomfortable about earlier in the film). The film ends with Charlie applying for a summer internship at a psychiatric institute.

Tags: entertaining

Review:
The plot about a wealthy teen (Yelchin) goes to a new public high school and ingratiates himself into its social fabric by using his charm to become the school's resident "psychiatrist" is good, its like a glimpse of how teenagers live nowadays.
Robert Downey was good, Anton Yelchin in the role of Charlie, his performance was great.
Charlie Bartlett is basically a good-hearted very smart rich kid expelled from all his previous private schools who wants to be popular and becomes a kind of psychiatrist for his fellow classmates in a "normal" public high school.The actor portraying him did a remarkable job showing his eccentricities while keeping him likable and sweet despite his less than legal actions.
The audience was so loud and boisterous at the World Premiere screening at the Tribeca Film Festival that it sent the laugh meter off the scale.Anton Yelchin is Charlie Bartlett, a kid born with a silver spoon in his mouth and an enterprising, albeit mischievous, brain.
It's a delicate balance but Yelchin and Hilton make it work.Robert Downey Jr. is ironically cast as the substance-addled principal who also happens to be the father of Charlie's love interest.
This is the film's most heartfelt storyline, and Dennings is admirably up to the task.At times it all feels so real, and it's no wonder -- writer Gustin Nash actually continued to write scenes and dialogue specifically for those actors after the film got underway and it shows.Charlie Bartlett has the look and feel of a studio film, which should help it find an audience.
I saw an advanced screening of Charlie Bartlett at my school with a Q&A session with the writer and director last April, and I must say, I haven't enjoyed a movie this much in a VERY long time.Anton Yelchin is Charlie Bartlett, a young rich boy who has just gotten kicked out of his private school for forging driver's licenses for his fellow students in an attempt to gain some acceptance.
Hope Davis, as always, played his eccentric mother wonderfully, and Robert Downey Jr. was absolutely great.For any of you who are wondering about Mark Rendall's role in this film, he has a relatively large part as Kip Cromwell, the unpopular, depressed boy who comes to Charlie for help.
Charlie Bartlett is a comedy film about Charlie, a rich kid who drops out of a private high school and experiences culture shock after enrolling into a public school.
'Charlie Bartlett,' the story of a wealthy teen who bounces from posh private school to normal public school, is one that should go down as a requisite for all high school students to view.Along with films like Ferris Bueller, Breakfast Club, Fast Times, and Dazed & Confused, 'Charlie Bartlett' shows a great (though sometimes exaggerated) view of high school life and the struggles that come with it.Great performances by the lead ensemble and a fantastic job by first time director Jon Poll and first time writer Gustin Nash help to make this the best high school film of the decade.9/10..
The great performances of Robert Downey Jr and Anton Yelchin convinced me that the Principal of a school and a troubled student could end up helping each other and overcome the predictable high school conventions.
It's also very well acted all around, particularly by Anton Yelchin (who most people know as Chekov in the new star trek movies).I've spent quite a lot of time telling people about this film and no one seems to have heard of it which makes me really sad because it's such a good filmI honestly can't praise it enough.
Charlie Bartlett is this generation's Ferris Bueller's Day Off. It's a sweet, uplifting coming-of-age film that had some social messages and can very well be a true story at most high schools.
However, the show belongs to Downey Jr. This is his last film before his complete comeback with Iron Man, but he is excellent as the alcoholic Principal Gardner.Overall, this is not the perfect teen film, but it manages to deliver a touching story that will ring true to many high school/college kids out there.
This is the story: Charlie Bartlett, Anton Yelchin, is expelled from private school, and is sent to the public school by his rich Mom. He has high school outsider adventures until he sets himself up as an amateur psychiatrist with a illicit pharmacy, and then everyone loves him including the principal's daughter, Susan, played by Kat Dennings.
The principal, played by Robert Downey Jr, has his own mental health issues, and this is an interesting plot twist, rather like Ferris Bueller's Day Off.There are engaging performances from Anton Yelchin and Robert Downey Jr. They are fun to watch.
Kat Dennings and Hope Davis give interesting performances, but their characters are not as rich.The first half of the movie where Charlie has problems and needs to solve them is far more interesting than when he is solving other people's problems.
There's just something "off" with Yelchin's act that I couldn't quite place my finger on, but by the end of the film I really hated him, and I was sympathizing more with Downey's character.Tyler Hilton gives a good performance as a school bully, but he's dealing with an incredibly one-dimensional and laughably unrealistic character; he is introduced as a one-dimensional bully who beats kids up, but he has a rapid change of heart and suddenly becomes a "nice guy." The message behind this transformation is admirable, but it's hilariously naive and quite ridiculous.The rest of the high school is a blur of clichés and faceless masses - Charlie suddenly becomes very popular because of his psychiatric advice and prescriptions he hands out to classmates, but apart from one character (his eventual girlfriend and Downey's daughter), all the high schoolers are handled poorly, and there's never much of a gradual change in Bartlett's popularity; he just becomes universally loved by his schoolmates overnight.Ultimately the film is amusing in parts, but taken as a whole, and because of its reliance upon an unlikable and frankly incredibly irritating main character, it really falls apart.
Downey's performance is great but it's buried by its surroundings; he isn't given room to expand, and all the clichés and faceless characters that comprise this film really dampen the impact of the better moments - because Charlie Bartlett does have moments of greatness, but they're all too brief to excuse the uncountable flaws..
Charlie Bartlett tells the story of a rich kid (played by Anton Yelchin), who seems to have problems staying at any one private school.
After being thrown out from another one, his mother Marilyn (Hope Davis) sends him to a normal public high school, and there he continues to cause trouble, only after becoming a pseudo-psychiatrist and friend to many of the school's students.I was not expecting much from Charlie Bartlett, and I did not get much.
Robert Downey Jr., as the principal with problems of his own, is probably the best thing about the movie, but his work is clouded within the messy whole, and is really hard to appreciate.Charlie Bartlett, despite good intentions, is just not that great.
The acting could not have been better, and I feel that this film has allowed Anton Yelchin to join the ranks with Ellen Page and Paul Dano.Naturally when I first saw the trailer, I thought to myself that it was just going to be another teen movie.
Charlie BartlettFinally, a movie taking place in a high school that actually captures a lot about what goes on in high school these days.Charlie Bartlett, played by Anton Yelchin, is a 17 year old kid from a wealthy family, and has pretty much anything he could want, materially.
But in "Charlie Bartlett", Yelchin becomes the smarmy anti-thesis of what sustains his charms, and while not begrudging his change of direction, the dissonance here is staggering.Charlie, or Dr. Charlie as he becomes known in the hallways of his new public school after being kicked out of yet another private institution, the prestigious Castlewood School, is a budding entrepreneur butting heads with his nemesis, Principal Nathan Gardner (Robert Downey Jr.) for influence over the school's student body and in particular, the sunshiny Goth chick Susan (Kat Dennings) who happens to be the Principal's daughter.
Students are lining up outside the door to see Charlie, which attracts the attention of Principal Gardner who now has to try to keep his daughter away from Charlie, while trying to end Charlies control over the school.Charlie Bartlett presents us with the teen character stereotypes and a constant "John Hughes" look and feel to it.
This scene is very funny but the rest of the movie is not.Overall Charlie Bartlett is more ambitious and goes down a different road than regular teen comedies.
Pretty soon Charlie has gained the all-embracing adulation he craved, obtained his first girlfriend, the super-cool Susan (Kat Dennings from 40 Year Old Virgin) but is dangerously at odds with the school's principal (Robert Downey Jr.) who is also Susan's father.Written and directed by virtual newcomers Gustin Nash and Jon Poll (respectively), this homage to Harold and Maude becomes all the more blatant by the over-use of a familiar song in two key scenes.
Downey Jr. proves yet again he is far and away the best actor of his generation, balancing the gravitas, humanity and wisdom in his role as father-figure while becoming unhinged as the reluctant fall guy for a school on the verge of implosion.Charlie Bartlett is much more than Harold and Maude meets Rushmore meets Ferris Bueller; its rewards are many..
The only thing going for this movie is Anton Yelchin's acting; He was convincing as a misunderstood rich white boy from the suburbs, but his character was poorly developed and came off as annoying and hard to like.
It's important that these wonderful teenagers are reminded that they are just kids, they shouldn't have to be therapists and they shouldn't have the responsibility for someone's life and I think this movie tells that story really well.Gustin Nash has written a heartfelt story and shows a knack for one liners, but Jon Poll's film technique falls a little short as the images to the words doesn't add to them enough.It's a great film and I recommend watching it when you're feeling nostalgic or you need a cheering up, but this is not a go to film for when you want to experience a slap of pure cinema..
As a high school movie Charlie Bartlett is great.
There are several intense scenes that catch your attention though, but they are here and there and it's easy to not focus.Charlie Bartlett is a good high school movie, but when it comes to movies in general, it's just decent.
The similarities to Rushmore and Ferris Buhler with a bit of Risky Business don't hurt although it is not witty enough to be remembered as those three are.The titular 18 year old Charlie Bartlett becomes de facto counselor to his public high school mates after the privileged iconoclast has been kicked out of the available private schools.Cat Stevens fits because Charlie and his troubled teens are trying to figure out where they fit in the scheme of life, always hoping for the elusive freedom; Charlie happens to have the wit and resources to help them better than the equally lost adults.
Well, the movie in question is not totally free of them, but thanks to good performances (particularly Anton Yelchin as Charlie Bartlett and Robert Downey, Jr. as Nathan Gardner) and some new angles in the story make the movie rather enjoyable to follow - in spite of the fact that I have serious doubts about the tangibility of the events and background; is it possible to hold such a school in the US?Anyway, quite a good movie, recommended to watch - unless you hate Yelchin or Downey, Jr.
This stunt not only makes him highly popular over night, yet wins the affection of the principal's daughter, much to the dismay of the principal himself thereby becoming Charlie's only opposition.A thin line exists between comedy and drama as the film deals with common high school issues like bullying, acceptance versus depression, peer pressure and ultimately parent-child relationships.
They are deep, complicated, realistic & relatable.Charlie Bartlett, played amazingly by young & talented Anton Yelchin, who goes through his messed up life, having to take up the role of an adult at an early age and simultaneously doing something or the other to gain attention & popularity in every prep-school he's admitted into.
This character is going to be stuck in my mind for a while.Even the supporting characters are played so well, especially that of Charlie's depressed & psychologically ill mother, played by wonderful Hope Davis, and that of the principal (with his own set of issues & problems), played by Robert Downey Jr (awesome as always).Memorable Scenes from the Movie - Charlie's Shakespeare audition, his drug overdose naked madness, his British accented 'Yankee Doodle', his announcement of losing virginity & the students' rebellion at his arrest.I liked the movie & its characters, maybe because my own life is so messed up.
The charm of Anton Yelchin is axis of movie and, behind the clothes of humor are pieces of great problem of loneliness A movie about the beauty of life, searches and discoveries, delicate and powerful, with a great Robert Downey in the role of principal.A film like a travel.
I found the movie by accident and I'm glad I did.Charlie (Anton Yelchin) plays a rich kid who has been expelled from every boarding school in New England.
it is clear that Robert Downey Jr. was chosen for this role because his past,real life drinking and drugs problems that likely most teenagers are familiar with due to those irresponsible "star culture" going around and promoted by mainstream media.on the positive side the acting is quiet good, and as an ADULT you might appreciate certain aspects including laughs about dysfunctional wealthy class( the mother) or exasperation with how to provide and promote ethical and moral grounds for today's ever "cunning" youth (the father).the artistic aspects are mediocre since many plot points are simply inserted even if they make no logical sense at times.also the soundtrack does not overall match or promotes the mood that the visual seems to likely wanting to do so.all in all is not a "bad" feature.
Being from a rich household, he finds himself like a fish out of water in a public school after being thrown out of just about every private school out there for his shenanigans.And of course, things don't get any better after a disastrous day at school with the school bully, and giving the first wrong impressions to Principal Gardner (Robert Downey Jr), whom he has to convince later when Bartlett begins to develop affections for Gardner's daughter and fellow schoolmate Susan (Kat Dennings).
However, there are still enjoyable moments with Bartlett that most school kids who aim to be Mr or Ms Popular, would probably identify with.And the scenes where Charlie becomes Agony Uncle and sets up shop dispensing useful advice, as well as controlled drugs, take the cake in the movie, as he discovers his niche market, and milked them for all it's worth.
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.
After a brief run-in with Ritalin, Bartlet strikes up a deal with the school bully and, using the extensive list of private therapists at his family's disposal who are more than happy to prescribe medications as a solution to any problem, quickly sets up shop as the student-body therapist and pharmacy.The situation is complicated when Bartlet falls for Susan (Kat Dennings), the daughter of Principal Gardner (Robert Downey, Jr.), whose past issues and horrible misfortune of being promoted to School Principal from his beloved roll as History teacher have left him somewhat cynical, and suspicious of Charlie.The only negative to this movie is that it's runtime of 97 minutes far exceeds it's 60 minute plot and will sometimes feel as though it drags on.
If I had to pick two people who give the best performances it would have to be Anton Yelchin and Robert Downey Jr.I really liked this movie and you should definitely check it out if you like teen comedies.9/10.
Anton Yelchin is rich kid Charlie Bartlett, and as the story begins he gets kicked out of yet another private school.
Charlie Bartlett (2007): Dir: Jon Poll / Cast: Anton Yelchin, Kat Dennings, Robert Downey Jr., Hope Davis, Tyler Hilton: Clever teen comedy about Charlie Bartlett who doesn't fit in at school.
The movie captures some of the problems teens face today and wraps it up nicely with exceptional performances from Robert Downey Jr., Anton Yelchin, Kat Dennings and Hope Davis.