“Charlie Bartlett” is a comedy about a 17-year-old so desperate to be loved by everyone at school that he becomes impossible to like. As the title suggests, pic follows Charlie Bartlett (Anton Yelchin), a filthy rich twerp who gains popularity partly by being nice, but mostly by channeling drugs into the public school system.
After being kicked out of a fancy private school (forgery of government documents, felony), Charlie Bartlett is sent to one of those movie public schools where the kids hang out in easily identifiable groups (jocks, nerds, scumbags).
Charlie Bartlett refuses to ride to school in the family limousine because it would attract negative attention, though he doesn’t bother ditching the prep school jacket and tie. Fans of good films will doubtlessly be reminded of “Rushmore,” which features a protagonist who does the same thing, only the idiosyncrasies of that film’s hero stem from clever character development as opposed to asinine rip-offs of better movies (plagiarism, not a really crime but frowned upon).
Charlie Bartlett wants to be the most popular kid in school, though he spends most of his free time with his self-medicating mother (Hope Davis, bright spot). So in order to achieve all-important popularity, he does the only logical thing: he begins selling prescription drugs to the students (sale of controlled substances, felony). But before handing out the dope, Charlie Bartlett first has a lengthy chat with the students about their symptoms in order to hook them up with the right poison (practicing psychiatry without a license, felony).
Though seemingly hundreds of students are aware of Charlie Bartlett’s multiple felonies, as indicated by a cliché sequence where everyone in the hallway cheers him as if he were Barack Obama at a news media convention, he never expresses any fear of legal repercussions, or that perhaps handing out prescription pills to everyone in school might not be in the best interest of the student body’s general welfare. Yeah, he’s a real sweetheart, alright.
Of course, Charlie Bartlett clashes with Principal Gardner (Robert Downey Jr., more than capable at playing substance abusers), a pathetic bureaucrat who would rather be teaching history than bossing kids around. At home, he gets loaded and shoots his pistol into the family swimming pool (discharging a firearm in a residential zone, felony) and bitterly argues with his daughter Susan (Kat Dennings), Charlie Bartlett’s new squeeze (sexual intercourse, thankfully not illegal yet).
If it isn’t obvious enough that I found the character’s flippant disregard to decency and the law somewhat irritating, my good sensibilities were further tested by the film’s reliance on contrived plot turns and a stereotype-laden high school that should make current and former teens alike balk at the brazen disregard for actuality.
For example, did anyone who wanted drugs in high school really need to struggle that hard to find them? Would kids of all stripes think so highly of this pretentious dweeb and seek out his advice on their lives? Would a single Ritalin pill send high school kids into a hyperactive stupor reminiscent of a cocaine binge or LSD trip (bad writing, a shame)?
Later, when the school puts cameras into the “student lounge,” Charlie aids the protests against the measure (student’s right to privacy in public high schools, nonexistent). “Charlie Bartlett’s” few laughs don’t go far towards remedying the antipathy towards originality, rationality, or even watchability (waste of audience’s time, all too common).
Charlie Bartlett finally does get arrested (assault, misdemeanor), but he gets out in time for the film to wrap up with a student-run play. Oh, that brings up memories of “Rushmore” again (vastly superior to this tripe, without a doubt).
1.5 out of 5
2 comments:
It's not as if no one else has noticed that movies tend to rely on a high school setting that is cliquier than Kalihari arguement, but you used that standard well to frame your arguement.
I especially like the annotation of the felonies being commited, but question your call on assault, which I'm fairly sure is a felony.
The premise of the movie does seem rather stupid. It seems almost like this was meant to be a comedy dealing with a serious teen issue (sort of like Juno) only it falls miserably on its face instead of being raved about on every talk show.
I wonder if there would be a good way to take on teenage drug use through comedy that wouldn't come off in the same way. I may have to investigate this further.
Assault is often a felony, but it can also be a puny misdemeanor. The way the film treated it, I was going with misdemeanor.
One of the giant problems of this film is that it really considers Charlie Bartlett to be a great guy, but if this were real life most people would hate this dipshit. But it expects us to swoon like the characters do, just because it asks. Big mistake.
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