Charlie Bartlett

54

MGM (97 minutes)
and Jon Poll
Anton Yelchin , Robert Downey Jr. , Hope Davis , Kat Dennings , Tyler Hilton , Ishan Davé , Megan Park , and Jonathan Malen

Rating: R for language, drug content and brief nudity

Summary: Charlie Bartlett, a wealthy, intelligent 17-year-old, has been kicked out of nearly every boarding school in town and is now enrolled in the local public high school, headed by the reluctant Principal Gardner. Initially struggling to find a place in the new school, Charlie eventually establishes himself as the supportive listener who dispenses well-needed advice, and the occasional prescription, to mixed-up teens. As intuitive Charlie befriends and emotionally influences nearly every student at Western Summit High, the entire school begins to transform into a very different place. (Kimmel International)

Kirk Honeycutt
The Hollywood Reporter:
(80) Yelchin delivers one of those performances that pop eyes... It's a breakthrough role.

Ronnie Scheib
Variety:
(80) Rollicking story of a rich kid whose wildly successful bid for popularity has him playing drug-distributing shrink to an entire high school boasts pitch-perfect faceoffs between upstart Anton Yelchin and alcoholic principal Robert Downey Jr. that could fuel a chemistry lab.

James Berardinelli
ReelViews:
(75) I would classify Charlie Bartlett as a smart teen film. It's more ambitious and overall more successful than its '80s forebears even though the resemblance is unmistakable.

Claudia Puig
USA Today:
(75) A refreshingly entertaining character study that refuses to dumb down its youthful cast or bury their concerns in service of a catchy soundtrack.

Wesley Morris
Boston Globe:
(75) What the movie lacks in technical polish (it's not very handsome-looking) and dramatic perfection, it makes up for in unusual social sophistication.

Steven Rea
Philadelphia Inquirer:
(75) With its rebellious themes and pharmaceutical props - Ritalin, Prozac, Xanax all get doled out - Charlie Bartlett isn't going to win any awards from parent-teacher groups. But the underlying message of the film, with its nods to "Catcher in the Rye" and - '70s throwback here - "Harold and Maude," is a good one.

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