Charlie Bartlett Review
by Clint Morris
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Like Soup without Toast, Charlie Bartlett’s still quite a tasty dish, you just wish it come with a side of, well, something extra.
An
oddball indy comedy about a youngster that finds Ferris Bueller-like
popularity thanks to a prescription-drug and counselling service he
starts offering fellow students.
Jon Poll’s film is
unquestionably likeable and appreciably different – though some of it
does play eerily similar to the early 90s classic Pump up the Volume
– but it just doesn’t have enough punch in its bowl to sustain itself.
If there’s a point to the film, it hasn’t been made – as it stands it’s
simply a worthwhile excuse for not doing the dishes.
Still,
there’s obviously enough here that’s different and clever – otherwise
why would Robert Downey Jr have put his hand up to play the main
character’s adversary, an unhappy high school principal whose daughter
is rumoured to be dating the abovesaid ‘drug’ kingpin, Charlie (Anton
Yelchin)?
Downey is as good as ever in the part, and he and Yelchin (Fierce People)
bounce well off each other, but one gets the inkling the Oscar Nominee
signed up for the film pre re-write - back when it was a little less
commercial and teen-friendly (I imagine the goal was to make something
a little more like Juno and a little less like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off).
Same with Indy queen, Hope Davis (The Weather Man),
she’s terrific as Charlie’s manic-depressive mother, a loopy and
somewhat fun guardian whose struggled – not that you’d know it – to
keep it together ever since her husband, Charlie’s father, was sent to
jail for tax evasion. Did Davis sign up for a different film?
Whatever the case, Poll’s film is still a good watch, and features three great performances, but at the end of the day, Charlie Bartlett
was no doubt expected to be top of his grade, not just another one that
passes, and of only for that reason, it’s a tad disenchanting. 3 out
of 5 Charlie Bartlett
Australian release: TBA
Cast: Anton Yelchin, Hope Davis, Robert Downey Jr, Kat Denning, Tyler Hilton
Director: Jon Poll
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