Starring: Hope Davis, Jr. Robert Downey, David Fraser, Derek McGrath, Stephen Young Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Binding: DVD Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC Label: MGM (Video & DVD) Number of Items: 1 Region Code: 1 Release Date: June 24, 2008 Running Time: 97 minutes Theatrical Release Date: February 22, 2008
Product Description: The kids at Western Summit High have "issues" and newcomer Charlie Bartlett is coming to their rescue. With a briefcase full of prescription pills and a head full of pop psychology this rebel with a cause brings hilarious help to the student body and unending grief to their neurotic principal Mr. Gardner (Robert Downey Jr.). Suddenly Charlie is the hottest man on campus and he's even caught the eye of Gardner's sultry daughter. An outrageous send-up of today's Prozac generation Charlie Bartlett has your prescription for laugh-out-loud insanity!System Requirements:Running Time: 97 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY/SCHOOL DAYS Rating: R UPC: 883904107750 Manufacturer No: M110775
Amazon.com: The ghost of Ferris Bueller haunts Charlie Bartlett. In John Hughes' classic comedy, a wily principal chases a clever student all over Chicago. In editor-turned-director Jon Poll's darker-hued enterprise, the hero of the title (Huff's preternaturally poised Anton Yelchin) gets kicked out of private school for selling fake IDs, so his heavily-medicated mother (a reliably excellent Hope Davis) transfers her son to a public institution. Looking like a junior stockbroker in navy blazer and attaché case, he turns into a bully piñata, until he joins forces with surly dealer Murphey (Walk the Line’s Tyler Hilton) to sell prescription medication and split the profits (Charlie secures the meds from an assortment of pill-pushing psychiatrists). By listening to their problems and offering well-researched advice, the unlicensed doc becomes the most popular kid on campus. He even captures the interest of self-possessed drama queen Susan (The 40-Year-Old Virgin’s Kat Dennings), daughter of booze-soaked Principal Gardner (Robert Downey Jr. in top form). Gardner doesn't trust Charlie, but lacks the evidence to confirm his suspicions--so he sets out to secure some. Once he installs surveillance cameras, the game is on. By the end, the two competitors will have both lost... and won. Aside from Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Charlie Bartlett recalls Wes Anderson's Rushmore, except Poll's Gustin Nash-penned satire trades counter-cultural cool for trenchant commentary about quick-fix solutions to deep-seated dilemmas. That means fewer laughs than its forerunners, but Charlie Bartlett presents a more penetrating analysis of today’s generation gap. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
Yes, it's believable (enough) & no, it's not Ferris Beuhler Ferris and Charlie are both charismatic high school boys with authority issues and there the similarity ends. First of all, the big difference between Charlie Bartlett and Ferris Beuhler's Day Off lies in the movies' fundamental attitudes. Ferris Beuhler, a straight-forward comedy, is about the adventures of a charming high school guy who cleverly and somewhat endearingly cons his way out of every mess and challenge that attempts to thwart his intention of taking the day off from school. Charlie Bartlett, on the other hand, is essentially a drama, dealing with the struggles of a sensitive, yet traumatized adolescent boy whose lack of effective parenting sets the stage for a crisis that ultimately changes his life. While I admit that there's a preposterous quality to the idea of a high school kid setting up shop as his school's resident therapist and psychiatrist, I was drawn to the movie for just that reason. We live in times where the unlikely appears far more often than we expect. The rules are no longer fixed and the daily headlines bear out the breakneck speed with which our culture is careening off into increasingly unlikely scenarios. Was 9/11 unlikely? Colombine? Today's financial upheavals?
I found the Charlie character played well - a good mix of sly, adaptive bravado with arresting innocence and vulnerability. Nor did I find the mother unbelievable. In fact, I've known a lot of mothers with startlingly similar personalities, so if anything, her character troubled me because of what it evoked from my experience, not because of its failure to be able to come off as credible. The school bully was a bit more two-dimensional, although it was amusing how he and Charlie resolved their differences. Robert Downey Jr. was quite effective as the unraveling man in a position of upholding authority and order.
I think my biggest problem with the film - a relatively minor one - was how neatly everything fell into place at the end. Yes, it could have happened, but not so quickly and conveniently. Charlie's struggles - and those of the characters around him - would likely have taken much more time, work and pain to resolve. Still, this is a worthwhile film, regardless of your generation, as long as you're open to wide-reaching possibilities.
An entertaining look at what's troubling teens today The 2007 film Charlie Bartlett presents a hero much like the Ferris Bueller we know and love, but for the next generation. The film runs 97 minutes and takes a look at today's youth and its view of prescription drugs, figures of authority and what it often takes just to fit in.
Charlie Bartlett (Anton Yelchin) is a teenager who has been kicked out of numerous private schools because of illegal activities he engages in to gain popularity. Forced to enter public school, Charlie quickly finds a way to win the admiration of his new peers. Using his family's on-call psychiatrist, he pretends to exhibit the behavioral problems of other students in order to get medication which he then sells in his "office," the boys' bathroom. During the year, he falls for the beautiful Susan Gardner (Kat Dennings) whose father happens to be the principal (Robert Downey, Jr.) As Charlie grows a rapport with his classmates, Principal Gardner disapproves of Bartlett more and more as his own authority starts to dwindle.
Director Jon Poll has produced films including The 40 Year Old Virgin and Meet the Fockers and his comedic talent does not fall short in this film. The stellar cast, with Downey Jr.'s dry sarcasm and Yelchin's goofy charm, is part of what makes this movie work. This is writer Gustin Nash's first film script to be produced, which will hopefully inspire many more from him.
What I find most appealing about Charlie Bartlett is its sense of humor. Unlike other movies which stage an entire scene merely to set up a single joke, Yelchin will unexpectedly burst out in song or spontaneously dance around his yard in only his underwear. The film uses plenty of wit to address the issues that face today's youth and its antics had me laughing repeatedly.
I found it extremely difficult to find a character in this movie that I did not like. Although, believe me, the critic in me did certainly try. Charlie Bartlett is just too loveable. He's the sort of person who you begin to feel could do anything. Even the bully, Murphey Bivens (Tyler Hilton) though he starts out as the obvious villain grows into a character we all root for in the end.
This film gives the same message of "We're all in this together" that High School Musical does. Ultimately, the quirky guy, the popular girl, the bully, and the loner all discover that yes, high school sucks, but if they can't be there for each other, who will?
My main criticism of this movie is its portrayal of adults. Downey Jr.'s character is seen drunk, waving around a handgun; Mrs. Bartlett is popping pills and the various shrinks Charlie sees are too stupid to see through his scheme to get prescription drugs.
Adults are portrayed as irrational and unintelligent while it is the teenagers who pull everything together in the end. The older people just don't get a chance to redeem themselves in this film, which is a characteristic not unlike John Hughes's The Breakfast Club.
With my years of teen angst and desire for "happy pills" that my mom just wouldn't buy me tucked away in my memory, this film was very easy to relate to. It gives recognition to a lot of problems teens face that society likes to ignore. It also gives adults a unique way to rekindle their youth and discover what it means to be a teenager today.
Just Awful I generally do not post reviews on Amazon, but I'll be honest, I was absolutely shocked to see so many favorable (and even mediocre) reviews for this film, so I felt compelled to refute them.
This film is just awful, with the only redeeming aspect being Robert Downey Jr. Anton Yelchin is beyond irritating as the title character, Hope Davis overplays his mother to the point of nausea, and the script is just ludicrous. With the exception of Downey Jr., the overacting in this film literally gave me a headache.
With a story as absurd as the one presented in Charlie Bartlett, one might expect a sort of understated direction from helmer Jon Poll; a subtle vision that downplays the more ridiculous elements (and there are plenty of them) of the script. Instead, Poll unwisely accentuates them in a lavish form that makes us feel like we're watching some alternate reality where the rules of common sense, tact and prescription drugs do not apply.
I won't even get into the absurdities associated with the procurement of prescription drugs in mass quantities or the incredible speed at which relationships develop in this movie. Suspension of disbelief is something I have no problem doing with regards to film, as long as there is entertainment value behind it. This movie was, quite simply, obnoxious, and easily one of the worst films of the year.
People like you are the reason people like me need medication This smokes Juno! Not necessarily real believable, but it is a funny, clever high school comedy. Just a notch below the classics Sixteen Candles and Ferris Bueller. Charlie is just another teenager trying to fit in. A rich kid actually, expelled from numerous prep schools for different reasons. Now at public school, he gains instant notoreity as the prescription drug dealer. This has lots of teenage angst, insecurities, family drama, and other uncertainties which are often the side effects of growing up. Robert Downey Jr. is great as the alcoholic principal. This movie is realistic with its look at relationships. Kids feeling isolated, disconnected from parents, having trouble making friends, suffering from depression. There is a school bully that videotapes his fights and later sells his DVD "Greatest Afterschool Beatdowns". 2 funny, he even gives his victims a portion of the profits. All in all, not a bad comedy. The wife made me watch it, and I actually stayed awake for the whole thing.
Entertaining little film. Charlie Bartlett has a difficult time making friends. As he moves from one private school to another, by the time he finally begins to become popular he is expelled. The problem is that his popularity comes from doing something illegal. Charlie, ever the opportunist, has a creative and entrepreneurial mind for providing things that high school students should not have. As is the way (generally) with high school students, what they can't have is what they are willing to pay for. And Charlie will accept that risk to be popular. Now he has been kicked out of every private school and is left with only one option: public school. A series of events lead Charlie to his next big idea: provide a little medication and a lot of opportunity to unburden themselves of their problems. And just like that, Charlie Bartlett began helping fellow students cope with their problems...from the boy's bathroom.
Anton Yelchin stars as the movie's title character. He, if you have seen it, is the kidnapped boy in the movie Alpha Dog. In both movies he plays a charming, though slightly awkward, young man. While I am worried that he wouldn't be as successful in a more mature role, I think he was a great casting choice to be Charlie Bartlett.
The story was a little hokey. The characters were a little cliché. I concede those two points, but still contend that this is a good movie. I enjoyed how the movie did not shy away from those things, but rather embraced them. In fact, without cliché students in a hokey story, Charlie Bartlett would have been unable to effectuate change in so many lives. (I hope it doesn't disappoint you that there is a social message wrapped neatly within this movie.)
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