DVD Release Date: June 24, 2008
Theatrical Release Date: February 22, 2008
Rating: R (for language, drug content and brief nudity)
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Run Time: 110 minutes
Director: Jon Poll
Actors: Anton Yelchin, Robert Downey, Jr., Hope Davis, Kat Dennings, Tyler Hilton, Mark Rendall, Dylan Taylor, Megan Park, Jake Epstein, Jonathan Malen
As I watched Charlie Bartlett, I thought about an event I attended with a Hollywood ministry called Art Within. Its director, Bryan Coley, said this of some Christian artists and critics: “We’re like the awkward kid standing outside the group, saying, ‘Hey, let us in! We’re cool, too!’”
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He went on to say, “We’re counting cuss words in movies and valuing only the answers, not the questions, when we’re supposed to be observing—putting an ear to the ground of the human cry and getting back to being the hands and feet of Christ as we serve the unsaved.”
If there was ever a movie in which to look past the cuss words and put our ear to the ground of the human cry, it’s Charlie Bartlett (think a darker, more modern Ferris Bueller's Day Off). No, it’s not for your kids, but it is an amazing, on-target portrayal of the angst of teens and what’s happening these days in their hearts and minds.
Here’s the story: Charlie Bartlett (Anton Yelchin) is a smart, rich kid who keeps getting kicked out of posh private schools for infractions such as making fake IDs. His currently single mother (Hope Davis) finally enrolls him in public high school, where he rides the “special” bus (because it’s closest to his house), quickly gets beat up by the school bully, Murphy Bivens (Tyler Hilton), is laughed at by many of the others, and awakened to the tremendous hopelessness and meanness of his new peers. Always sharp and ever the entrepreneur, Charlie decides to turn his misfortune and his classmates’ angst into a thriving business.
He pretends and convinces the family psychologist (Stephen Young), the family doctor, and several other prescription-writing professionals that he has various ailments. Soon the medications come pouring in. Charlie deftly turns the bullying Murphy into a business partner, and together they turn one of the boy’s bathrooms into a psychiatrist’s office. Both guys and girls regularly come in, sit on top of a commode and share all their problems with smart Charlie, who is listening in the next stall. Charlie researches the problem and doles out (for a nice fee) the medication he thinks each kid needs. Soon he becomes the most popular kid in school.