"There's more to High School than being well liked," quips Charlie Bartlett's mother. To which the titular character retorts, "Like what, specifically?" To which there's no reply. And I agree. It was the height of importance to be popular, especially at Nevada Union High. And I must say, popular was not my middle name. On the flip-side, I wasn't "uncool" either: I didn't spend the majority of my four-year tenure as a Mighty Miner with black eyes and toilet-bowl hair.
However, Charlie Bartlett's (Anton Yelchin) first day had him wearing both. After being expelled from every ivy-league prep school for near-criminal behavior, he enrolls in West Summit High School, the local public school. Needing to feel comprehensively liked, he becomes an expert on teenage psychological and behavioral issues and sets himself up as the school shrink. Complete with office, in the main hall boys bathroom, and pharmacy, run by school bully, Murphy Bivens. He takes his patients' sessions in the stalls and dishes out the proper medication. However, after one of his patients' suicide attempts, he must use his influence and popularity for more positive uses.
This film harkens back to great school flicks like Dead Poets Society, Ferris Beuler's Day Off, and Fast Times at Ridgemont High and other movies Robert Downey Jr (Charlie Bartlett's Principal Gardener) started his career exploring. It clearly is written by people from my generation, people who weren't sure who they were in high school. Who agree that high school can be a bit like Western Summit High's spring play "Hell Comes with Your Own Locker." Life is chaos and there's no sense to it.
I enjoyed the wit, wisdom and intelligent gimmicks. This film has the feel of an indie and punch-packed with the force of a blockbuster with rock-solid performances from Anton Yelchin, Hope Davis and Robert Downey Jr. Robert Downey Jr's Principal Gardener is brilliant as a man torn between giving up and fighting for his soul. His performance is brilliant in Gardener's obligatory confrontations, as most school flick principals perform; however, Downey Jr makes it very clear that Gardener does not want to be stereotyped as such. Yelchin's Charlie Bartlett is one step into adulthood and the other wanting to stay in high school a bit longer. And he is the typical school flick protagonist, played to perfection.
Complete with a student demonstration, a dance-party complete with indie rocker, romantic hook-ups between unlikely characters, a denouement that makes you feel fuzzy: yep, totally the quintessential school flick, this time with an education. And that totally rocks!!
****
In: Anton Yelchin
Out: Robert Downey JR
Coming Soon: Good Night and Good Luck
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