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CHARLIE BARTLETT by Jon Poll

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Charlie Bartlett (Anton Yelchin) has a dream. In his dream, a crowd is calling his name until he enters the stage, and then cheer for him. Charlie Bartlett just wants to be popular. He lives with his rich but neurotic mother (Hope Davis), has been expelled from every private school and now he is the new guy at public Western Summit High School. But he is anything but popular with his blazer, tie and attache case. The only friend he makes is the mentally handicapped Len (Dylan Taylor), while school bullies Murphy (Tyler Hilton) and Jordan (Jonathan Malen) see him only as their newest victim for some Happy Slapping. The only highlight is Susan (Kat Dennings), the daughter of principal Nathan Gardner (Robert Downey Jr.), who is in the school’s theatre group for which Charlie auditions.
When his mother sends Charlie to a therapist and he gets a prescription for Ritalin which may or may not cure the ADS Charlie is suffering from – or not. Under the influence of Ritalin, Charlie has an idea how he might become more popular – he opens his own therapy office on the school toilet, listening to the problems of his schoolmates and organizing drugs for them from his various therapists.

Principal Gardner: Charlie, there are more important things than popularity!
Charlie Bartlett: Like what? Cause I’m seventeen. And right now, popularity’s pretty damn important!
Principal Gardner: Like what you do with that popularity

Small budget ($12 million), great film – the acting is delightful, the story is simple but profound, and the stabs at the US psychiatrists approach to real or fake mental illnesses are spot on. Just like Crocodile Dundee before him (“If you have a problem, you tell Wally. Wally tells everyone … No problem.”), Charlie Bartlett realizes the basic problem – you just need somebody to talk to.
But enlightenment does not come easy – it needs the suicide attempt of Kip (Mark Rendall) and principal Gardner’s upbraiding to cut Charlie down to size after his fabulous success as the school’s master drug dealer. And until the end, Charlie and the others will have learned even more about life and themselves.
A High School comedy with brains!

Charlie Bartlett - Anton Yelchin and Kat Dennings  Charlie Bartlett with 'business partner' Murphy 


Charlie Bartlett Movie Trailer


Psychiatry Exposed

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