Review of The Education of Charlie Banks (2007) by Michael A — 20 Apr 2009

Yes, Fred 'did it all for the nookie' Durst can actually make a good film. In fact, it's actually a great film & is one of the best films so far this year. Eisenberg is quickly becoming the go to guy for skinny nerd roles but he's no one trick pony. Jason Ritter is the real surprise here though, balancing charisma & casual cruelty, he brings depth to a role that could've easily become cliched & ugly. John Ritter's son is gonna have a huge career ahead of him judging from this.

Susan Sarandon's daughter Eva Amurri is also perfect in her slightly underwrtitten role, as is the rest of the ensemble. But she has clearly learned a lot from her iconic mom. Natural talent & natural beauty.

I hope you can catch it during it's brief run in theatres (thanks to the film's low budget & lack of marketing I was literally the only person in the place so I had a cool little private screening) as this little miracle is truly worth seeing asap. But I'm sure it'll develop a cult following when it's released on dvd, especially for fans of late 70's early 80's coming of age dramas or fans of character driven New Yawk stories like A Bronx Tale or Mean Streets. Not a 'crime' film per se, but Ritter's Mick Leery toughie-who-just-wants-to-fit-in-despite-being-a-fucking-psycho is one for the books. Plus it was nice (?) to see a beer bottle NOT break for a change after being used as a club.