Review of Charlie Bartlett (2008) by Jeff L — 18 Jan 2009

Charlie Bartlett is the story of a bored, little rich boy who finds "his calling" by selling psychiatric prescriptions to his fellow classmates. He listens to their problems in a stall, takes those problems to a psychiatrist and the psychiatrist writes a prescription based on what he is hearing. You see how it goes on from there.

All of the sudden, Charlie is the pseudo-psychologist-drug-selling-pop boy amongst the halls of his high school. He deals (or doesn't deal) with his own problems by listening to others. The only endearing quality of the film is the fact that Charlie actually feels and hopes he is helping these kids by giving them what they need.

My big problem with the movie is the ricochet direction of Jon Poll and the I need to be bigger than life acting of Anton Yelchin. I am fully aware of what the director was going for here. He was trying to show the manic life of a teenage boy who needs help, however, if the acting was better Poll wouldn't have to do with the camera what was clearly lacking in the performance of his lead.

If they ever remake this movie (and all remakes are just a matter of time at this point) they should slow down the camera work and get an actor who can play the role in a more controlled manner.