When there is effort visible enough for the prospective good characters and considerable story line which fails as a collective one, it does make it hard and sorry for the creators of a movie. “Charlie Bartlett” which has some original characters wandering around some of the stereotypic ones fails a bit even though there are some good performances and a great character study. The connection with us is never made or to be precise there is depletion of overall film experience even with a satisfying end.Charlie Bartlett (Anton Yelchin) is a kid pushed into being an adult in a wealthy family to take care of his mother Marilyn (Hope Davis) who is been in a numb state of emotion because of depression and medication. And he does like it when we get to see him getting involved in counseling the students and even starts prescribing medication. With an on call psychiatrist for the family, it is made to appear that he can easily convince the doc to get more drugs. Being kicked out of private school for running a fake license entrepreneur, in the new public school he wants to be noticed as any other kid.
Anton Yelchin has the title character to play. We see Bartlett as the nerd but a different one. He is cool as cucumber in the most disastrous situation and we come to realize his trap of an adult exterior under his teenage skin only near the end. He has issues with his father who is not available to unburden him. His mother loves him and also in an emotionally paralyzed state in advocating or bringing up her son. He wants to be a teenager inside. And with the educational information of the school scenario through films, I take it as the age to be popular is in high school. As with most of the high school films, we do not see kids studying. We see them rebellious, bullies, nerds and a principal who is been hated. Here it is Principal Gardener (Robert Downey Jr.) who also has an emotional issue apart from having a teenage daughter Susan (Kat Dennings). Overall the surrounding people around Charlie are seriously messed up and have no clue in dealing with it. And Charlie is a man to hear them out which start from his fellow students.
The film takes itself seriously around the mid point of it which is the right move; because that’s when there is something we get to know about these people. As in “Igby Goes Down”, this is a strong outspoken kid and this is not as bad as that one. Igby who does not take responsibility at any point of time even with lot of opportunities for his support and survival, Bartlett is a complete opposite of him. Even when he sells drugs and partners himself with the bully Murphey (Tyler Hilton) to make and business out the fighting videos (which by the way is seriously disturbing), Yelchin’s face of innocence going hand in hand with the maturity in handling it makes us to brush away the negativity involved in it. That marks the dark comedy territory covered for some parts.
I guess the contemplation of declaring it as a good movie is becoming hard in this case is the unfortunate routines taken in an independent genre film. The dream sequence, the odd work of mischief to get expelled and the dysfunctional mother is too much of a known recipe for a witty dark comedy and a moody drama piece. But a person got to start some where and director Jon Poll chose that. Also Downey Jr. does not get a solid surface to lay his alcoholic character to face upright at any moment only for the last part.
At the end, “Charlie Bartlett” marginally scales up and it would satisfy many viewers who are in search of an approachable independent film. This would be prick in the heart for an avid film goer and a welcome difference for the not so film addicts. The depth, obsession and the love over films does make me on very rare occasion to be a firm narrow minded self proclaimed esoteric scholar and deny the slightest impurity in an attempt for good picture. It came out during “Charlie Bartlett”.
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