Charlie Bartlett

Charlie Bartlett
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jon Poll
Produced by	Sidney Kimmel Barron Kidd Jay Roach David Permut
Written by	Gustin Nash
Starring	Anton Yelchin Kat Dennings Robert Downey Jr. Tyler Hilton Hope Davis
Music by	Christophe Beck
Cinematography	Paul Sarossy
Editing by	Alan Baumgarten
Studio	SKE
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date(s)	February 22, 2008
Running time	96 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$12 million[1]
Box office	$5,254,986[1]

Charlie Bartlett is a 2008 comedy-drama film directed by Jon Poll. The screenplay by Gustin Nash focuses on a teenager who begins to dispense therapeutic advice and prescription drugs to the student body at his new high school in order to become popular.

The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on May 1, 2007, and was shown at the Cannes Film Market, the Maui Film Festival, and the Cambridge Film Festival before going into theatrical release in the United States and Canada on August 3, 2007.

Plot

The son of a depressed but doting mother (Hope Davis) and a father who is serving time for tax evasion, 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.). 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 happier with life. 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 was not forgiving. Susan and Charlie drive off, and the bag turns out to be Nicotine gum, to help Susan to quit smoking cigarettes.

One night, the students of the public school are all at 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 he stops by Mr. Gardner's house to invite him. His study has been trashed, and Mr. Gardner is heavily intoxicated equipped with a hand gun. Mr. Gardner repeatedly fires the gun at the pool and in the air making Charlie scared. They get into a heated argument which causes Mr. Gardner to put the gun close to his head making Charlie think that Mr. Gardner is attempting to commit suicide. Charlie intervenes by tackling Mr. Gardner. He wanted to push him into the pool but failed and fell over himself, hitting the diving board on the fall. Mr. Gardner, appearing sober, comes to his senses and dives in the pool to save Charlie and states that he was not attempting to commit suicide and that he had too many responsibilities to commit suicide. They talk their problems over about Charlie's father and Susan, and then go to the play. Mr. Gardner becomes a teacher, and Charlie is now able to visit his father in prison and looks for work as a psychiatrist.

Cast

• Anton Yelchin as Charlie Bartlett, a wealthy teenager and the protagonist who begins to sell prescription drugs.
• Kat Dennings as Susan Gardner, Charlie's love interest, and the principal's rebellious daughter with a smoking problem.
• Robert Downey, Jr. as Nathan Gardner, the alcoholic principal and Susan's father, the primary antagonist.
• Tyler Hilton as Murphey Bivens, the school bully who grows to befriend Charlie.
• Hope Davis as Marilyn Bartlett, Charlie's depressed mother.
• Mark Rendall as Kip Crombwell, a depressed teenager who befriends Charlie after attempting suicide.
• Jake Epstein as Dustin Lauderbach, the most popular guy in school who goes to Charlie for help when he's under too much pressure.
• Megan Park as Whitney Drummond, Dustin's cheerleader girlfriend.
• Lauren Collins as Kelly
• Derek McGrath as Superintendent Sedgwick
• Stephen Young as Dr. Stan Weathers
• Abby Zotz as Mrs. Crombwell
• Aubrey Graham as A/V Jones

The film features four of the then Degrassi cast members as Charlie's fellow students: Jake Epstein (Craig Manning), Lauren Collins (Paige Michalchuk), Aubrey Graham (Jimmy Brooks), and Ishan Davé (Linus).

Production

The film was shot on location in Toronto as well as at Parkwood Estate in Oshawa, Ontario and Trafalgar Castle School in Whitby, Ontario. It was also filmed at Western Technical-Commercial School, where parts of Billy Madison and Ice Princess were shot.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack includes "Strobe," "New Clouds, Hot Clouds," "Voodoo," ""Day OK," and "Close to Midnight" by Spiral Beach; "Mr. E's Beautiful Blues" and "Hey Man (Now You're Really Living)" by Eels; "Straight in the Head" and "Poison/Safe" by controller.controller; "Pusherman" by Curtis Mayfield; "Nice Vibes" by Michael Licari; "Unnecessary Trouble" by Hard-Fi; "Oh Yeah" by The Subways; and "Seat on This Train" by Tom Freund.

Critical reception

Stephen Holden of The New York Times wrote "If the attention span of Charlie Bartlett didn’t wander here and there, the movie might have been a high school satire worthy of comparison with Alexander Payne’s Election. But as it dashes around and eventually turns soft, it loses its train of thought ... [and] never coalesces into the character-driven, serious comedy with heart that you want it be."^[2]

David Wiegand of the San Francisco Chronicle commented "The script is adequate, although screenwriter Nash has created one distasteful character after another, and there's barely a ripple of relieving humor in the entire film ... The material might have worked better if the filmmakers had adopted a satirical tone, or even if they'd gone the whole American Pie route. Instead, the film grinds on with only a few bright moments. The big problem, though, isn't the script but rather the direction and, specifically, the plodding pace of the film. That's surprising, given that first-time director Jon Poll has a background in film editing. It may have something to do with knowing pretty much what will happen from one moment to the next, but you keep wanting Poll and his cast to get on with things, or at least, energize the film some way or another. The tone is often just turgid ... Yet, for all its problems, the film is often sincere, often earnest ... You'll find yourself rooting for the filmmakers in spite of yourself, and, more to the point, in spite of the mistakes they've made."^[3]

Jonathan Rosenbaum of the Chicago Reader called the film "a rebellious teen comedy that isn't as good or as radical as Pump Up the Volume, but still feels like a shot in the arm and is full of irreverent energy." He added, "Despite an ineffectual subplot about the hero's absent father, there are some good satirical riffs here on adult hypocrisies (with Robert Downey Jr. especially good as the beleaguered, alcoholic school principal), a few echoes of the underrated Mumford, and lots of high spirits."^[4]

Darrell Hartmann of the New York Sun said, "John Poll's rebellious-teen comedy falls well below the high bar set by recent genre hits Juno and Superbad. An anything-goes kookiness pervades the first half, but the film then takes a trite turn that only serves to highlight its unlikely premise."^[5]

David Balzer of Toronto Life, rating it three out of five stars, called it "a cool trip down teen dramedy lane, but one senses the film could be a lot smarter. Bartlett’s drug selling, it turns out, is not the main subject of the movie; 'messed-up people' are, and this causes Charlie Bartlett to lean on psychobabble about disaffection that it initially tries so hard to mock. The film’s use of Cat Stevens’ anthem from Harold and Maude, “If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out,” encapsulates its problems; instead of acting as a wry expression of Bartlett’s dark philosophy, the song becomes the kind of pat message of self-empowerment that drives teens to Prozac in the first place."^[6]

Home media

MGM Home Entertainment released the film on Region 1 DVD on June 24, 2008. Viewers have the option of watching it in fullscreen (with optional commentary by Jon Poll and Gustin Nash) or anamorphic widescreen (with optional commentary by Poll, Anton Yelchin, and Kat Dennings) format. It has audio tracks and subtitles in English and Spanish. Bonus features include Restroom Confessionals and a music video by Spiral Beach.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} BoxOfficeMojo.com
2. ^ New York Times review
3. ^ San Francisco Chronicle review
4. ^ Chicago Reader review
5. ^ New York Sun review
6. ^ Toronto Life review

External links

• Official website
• Charlie Bartlett at the Internet Movie Database
• Charlie Bartlett at Rotten Tomatoes
• Charlie Bartlett at Metacritic
• Charlie Bartlett trailer on YouTube