Charlie Bartlett
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DVD details
Actor: Anton YelchinBrand: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language); Spanish (Dubbed)
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 97 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-06-24
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
DVD Reviews of Charlie Bartlett
DVD Review: I Was a Teenage Psychiatrist
Summary: 2 Stars
I remember the exact moment I stopped liking "Charlie Bartlett": the title character (Anton Yelchin) sits at a piano with his mother (Hope Davis), and as he plays, they both sing "Those Were the Days" from "All in the Family." This moment occurred less than five minutes into the film, so what does this say about the remaining ninety-two minutes? Not a heck of a lot, since practically every minute features one of the most unrealistic characters of recent memory. Charlie Bartlett--a rich young man who was expelled from every private high school he ever attended--does not represent the cool kid we'd like to be friends with, nor is he someone we'd actually like to be; he's nothing more than a strange kid that does strange things in a desperate attempt to be popular. Now in public school, he distributes prescription drugs to his high school classmates, all while providing free counsel in the boys' bathroom. The drugs were collected from many therapists, including his own. They were prescribed so nonchalantly that I never once believed the therapists were doing their job.
The silliest part is that his drug dealing makes him the most popular kid in school, and this is despite dressing in expensive suits, carrying an attaché case everywhere he goes, and speaking in words that are pathetic instead of funny. It's the classic Zero to Hero scenario, switching from being ignored to being idolized almost overnight. He even wins over the school bully, Murphy Bivens (Tyler Hilton), converting him from a violent hothead into a business partner. It's hard to imagine that satire was this movie's goal, since this isn't the way satire works. A film shouldn't flaunt its eccentricities if it doesn't stop to make some kind of commentary; otherwise, you have film that's weird just for the sake of being weird. "Charlie Bartlett" is exactly that, telling a story about people with problems that are absolutely nothing like real problems. Even if they were real, they certainly could never be solved as easily as they are in this film.
The self-appointed psychiatrist begins building his reputation by sharing his Ritalin at a school dance. He was prescribed that particular drug because he had trouble concentrating in school--all he could think about was a fantasy of standing on a concert stage, shouting "Hello! My name is Charlie Bartlett, and I'm not alone!" to throngs of screaming fans. His reaction to the medication is not a good one; at one point, he runs down the street in the middle of the night in nothing but his underwear, ranting incoherently. Since he understands what his pills capable of, he decides to share them with everyone else, because, obviously, dealing will make you popular.
It isn't until the next day that his reputation is set in stone. Bartlett is approached by Kip Crombwell (Mark Rendall), a lanky young kid who suffers from depression and panic attacks. He begs Bartlett for some kind of medication, and not being one to displease his classmates, Bartlett does a little medical research and finds out that Xanax is the best medicine for those symptoms. After tricking his therapist into prescribing it for him, Bartlett gives the pills to Crombwell for a modest fee. Thus a business is born, as are regular treatment sessions in which Bartlett sits in one bathroom stall while the patient sits in another. Pretty soon, a line of patients extends the entire length of the hallway, and this is because--wouldn't you know it--they actually feel better talking to him. Little do they know that Bartlett is about as messed up as they are, with an imprisoned father and an insane mother weighing heavily on his warped mind.
Stories like this inevitably include a love interest, which in this case involves Bartlett and Susan Gardner (Kat Dennings). What Susan sees in Bartlett, I'll never understand; the two may have a few things in common, but they could not be more different as far as personalities are concerned. The main objective of this character is to create conflict, not only for Bartlett, but also for her father (Robert Downey, Jr.), who happens to be the school's Principal. Here's a character that adds the most melodrama: after coming home from work, he pours himself glass after glass of heavy booze. He too is the product of a bad relationship, but the problems run deeper than that. None of the students respect him, especially since he allowed surveillance cameras to be installed around the campus' student lounge. He now faces a full-blown teenage uprising, one that's directly influenced by the infamous Charlie Bartlett.
If the filmmakers were aiming to make some kind of a meaningful statement about being a teenager, something went horribly wrong. But the film's biggest failure is assuming that we'd invest in the title character, someone who could never exist in real life, no matter how much we'd want him to. "Charlie Bartlett" is one of the biggest miscalculations I've ever seen, a needlessly bizarre film that thinks it's being witty but is actually being annoying. I couldn't relate to any of the characters, the personality quirks are piled on far too thick, and I absolutely hated the story, a lame-brained idea that couldn't find a balance between drama and comedy. Movies like this simply don't offer anything, not even an excuse to indulge in mindless absurdity.
Description of Charlie Bartlett
The kids at Western Summit High have "issues" and newcomer Charlie Bartlett is coming to their rescue. With a briefcase full of prescription pills and a head full of pop psychology this rebel with a cause brings hilarious help to the student body and unending grief to their neurotic principal Mr. Gardner (Robert Downey Jr.). Suddenly Charlie is the hottest man on campus and he's even caught the eye of Gardner's sultry daughter. An outrageous send-up of today's Prozac generation Charlie Bartlett has your prescription for laugh-out-loud insanity!System Requirements:Running Time: 97 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY/SCHOOL DAYS Rating: R UPC: 883904107750 Manufacturer No: M110775The ghost of Ferris Bueller haunts Charlie Bartlett. In John Hughes' classic comedy, a wily principal chases a clever student all over Chicago. In editor-turned-director Jon Poll's darker-hued enterprise, the hero of the title (Huff's preternaturally poised Anton Yelchin) gets kicked out of private school for selling fake IDs, so his heavily-medicated mother (a reliably excellent Hope Davis) transfers her son to a public institution. Looking like a junior stockbroker in navy blazer and attaché case, he turns into a bully piñata, until he joins forces with surly dealer Murphey (Walk the Line?s Tyler Hilton) to sell prescription medication and split the profits (Charlie secures the meds from an assortment of pill-pushing psychiatrists). By listening to their problems and offering well-researched advice, the unlicensed doc becomes the most popular kid on campus. He even captures the interest of self-possessed drama queen Susan (The 40-Year-Old Virgin?s Kat Dennings), daughter of booze-soaked Principal Gardner (Robert Downey Jr. in top form). Gardner doesn't trust Charlie, but lacks the evidence to confirm his suspicions--so he sets out to secure some. Once he installs surveillance cameras, the game is on. By the end, the two competitors will have both lost... and won. Aside from Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Charlie Bartlett recalls Wes Anderson's Rushmore, except Poll's Gustin Nash-penned satire trades counter-cultural cool for trenchant commentary about quick-fix solutions to deep-seated dilemmas. That means fewer laughs than its forerunners, but Charlie Bartlett presents a more penetrating analysis of today?s generation gap. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
Beyond Charlie Bartlett
 More "School Days" Comedies |  The Charlie Bartlett Soundtrack |  More from MGM |
Stills from Charlie Bartlett
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