Review of Charlie Bartlett (2008) by Sion R — 03 Mar 2009

If nothing else, "Charlie Bartlett" was an interesting film...I just don't think it was a particularly even or balanced film. The idea behind the movie (boarding school kid goes to public school) is a great premise, and there are a lot of interesting things happening here (including a satire of America's quick-fix solution for children of using pharmaceuticals), but the depiction of public-school life feels--at times--like "90210" (overly dark and overly serious), and at times like "Saved by the Bell" (overly light-hearted, almost a comical slapstick version of high school life). While neither is realistic, and we as viewers understand this, we just need a single consistent high school world, here. You can't go from "American Pie" to "Elephant." If you create a fictional world, stick with it.

Likewise, the characters seemed to often be treated as props, sometimes acting not naturally, but acting as if controlled by the scriptwriters. This was best characterized by Robert Downey Jr.'s character, toward the end, acting in a ridiculous drunken stupor one second, then (just minutes later) becoming remarkably sober in order to clearly and cleanly progress the plot.

"Charlie Bartlett" was fun to watch. It just wasn't very balanced, and it had quite a few inconsistencies in tone and character.