Charlie Bartlett

Add comment March 2nd, 2008

Charlie Bartlett may be a movie about a teenager, but we would never classify this movie as a teen flick.  It follows suit of Juno as a kind of “new” comedy, with intelligent conversation and humor replacing crude jokes and played out story lines.

The movie starts with a clean-cut prep school student, Charlie Bartlett (Anton Yelchin), being expelled from an expensive boarding school.  It’s obvious that the root of Charlie’s problem is the fact he is an overly matured teen trying (and failing) to fit in with his age group.  So, upon his return to his gigantic house, he decides to give the public schools a try in order to find some friends.  Unfortunately, that didn’t start off too well when he is faced with typical high school problems: bullying, cliques, and disagreements with the principal.  He soon discovers his niche, though, and his situation improves dramatically when he realizes the gift he had for listening to other teens. After experiencing many extreme high school situations, he finally finds friends and his identity in that world. We enjoyed this movie.  Charlie Bartlett is completely loveable – his character made this movie.  Yelchin worked some Ferris Bueller into the character, which was awesome.  The plot is enjoyable and exciting and the cast was fun.  We definitely recommend seeing this movie if you haven’t already!