Review of Charlie Bartlett (2008) by Chads. — 23 Feb 2008

Riff through this, the John Hughes oeuvre, and like a Bruce Watson is-it-a-bagpipe-or-a-guitar solo does "Charlie Bartlett", a post-modern shred on Hughes art-teen masterpieces such as: "Sixteen Candles", "The Breakfast Club", "Pretty in Pink", and "Ferris Bueller's Day-Off"; riff away "like a lover's voice fires the mountainside".

For starters, Charlie(Anton Yelchin) and Susan(Kat Dennings) are the twenty-first century version of Anthony Michael Hall and Molly Ringwald. In "Sixteen Candles", 'The Geek' gets a pair of Samantha's panties; this time, the geek gets the girl.

Susan also reminded me of the proto-goth chick that Ally Sheedy portrayed in "The Breakfast Club". To be worthy of Andy's hand(Emilio Estevez's hand) on the small of her back, Allison had to go easy on the eyeliner.

"Charlie Bartlett" updates Hughes' take on George Bernard Shaw's "Pygmallion" by turning the tables; this time, the figurative Eliza Doolittle goes drag when Charlie's sidekick Murphey(Tyler Hilton) grows out his mohawk to win the small of a cheerleader's back.

The spirit of "Pretty in Pink" is best expressed in Susan's room. Look at her stuff. It's a pop culture wasteland. Andie Walsh(Ringwald, again) had a "Sparkle in the Rain"(Simple Minds' sixth, and best album) poster hung on her wall.

Susan likes music, too; she's into Mecca Normal(an uber-cool Vancouver two-piecer from the early-nineties(and still active), who along with Portland's The Spinanes, probably inspired The White Stripes), whose cacophonic albums of feminist ideas and grrrl-y guitars would most definitely meet Andie's approval.

"Ferris Bueller's Day-Off", however, casts the mightiest shadow on "Charlie Bartlett". Ferris(Matthew Broderick), in the course of a day, wanted to save his friend Cameron(Alan Ruck); while Charlie, in the course of a semester, wants to save the world.

If you're "not expecting to grow flowers in the desert," but "can live and breathe and see the sun in wintertime," consider yourself lucky. You're young. "Charlie Bartlett" is a paean to the eighties.