If there’s one thing that Hollywood thinks Generation Y teenagers are, besides utterly debauched, it’s medicated. Regardless of the truth or falsehood of that assertion, several movies have been produced echoing this belief, such as 2005’s similarly-named “Thumbsucker” and “The Chumscrubber.” “Charlie Bartlett” offers a slightly different, more lighthearted take on overprescribed teens and the high-school experience, which makes for a more enjoyable, if slightly less believable, movie.
“Charlie Bartlett” tells the story of the titular character (Anton Yelchin), a daydreaming prep-school kid from a rich family who shares his family’s mansion with only his off-kilter pill-popping mother (Hope Davis). Charlie manages to get himself kicked out of every private school in his area despite his entrepreneurial nature, and ends up having to go to (gasp) public school. A run-in with the school bully, Bivens (Tyler Hilton), on his first day leads to a meeting with his on-call psychiatrist and a subsequent prescription for Ritalin. Charlie eventually discovers the potent capabilities of excess doses of Ritalin and goes into business with Bivens to sell the rest of his pill stash at the school dance. Charlie’s reputation for pharmaceutical connections grows, and he establishes an ad hoc therapy room in the boys’ bathroom where he listens to problems, counsels, and prescribes medicine, much to the eventual dismay of the beleaguered principal (Robert Downey Jr.).
The element that carries this movie is its star, the somewhat unknown Yelchin, who last delivered a heartbreaking and realistic performance in “Alpha Dog.” Yelchin brings so much natural enthusiasm, likability and believability to the role of Charlie that the movie is hard not to like. While Charlie’s natural empathy and optimism may be somewhat hard to believe at times, it is a welcome change from the depressive and alienated faces of previous teenage medication comedies.
Yelchin’s Charlie is reminiscent of another enthusiastic and optimistic teen of decades past, Ferris Bueller, if Ferris were transplanted from the carefree John Hughes ’80s to the decidedly more dystopian cinematic landscape of 2008. Yelchin delivers a falsetto monologue to audition for a play, holds his ground against Robert Downey Jr., and does a dead-on Ray Charles impression ““ all of which show Yelchin’s versatility as an actor.
Following the latest trend of inserting big names into semi-indie comedies, Downey shores up in this film and doesn’t seem out of place. Casting directors have apparently gotten wise to Downey’s real-life exploits and started casting him as sloppy, boozing underachievers. This role is no exception. However, Downey knows exactly how to play it, playing the would-be disciplinarian at Charlie’s school and closeted alcoholic at home with equal ease. Davis also gives a good supporting performance as Charlie’s addled mom, giving the cliche of the medicated upper-class mother a well-needed touch of sweetness and gentility.
As good as these performances are, the script and its execution are not without flaws. When we first see “public school,” it’s not that much different from the opening of any other teen movie, with dyed-hair skaters careening past the camera, and Bivens giving a kid a swirly. Bivens himself is a bit of a stretch as a character ““ all denim, leather and shoddy Mohawk. However, if you look at this movie as more of a pastiche of teen movies with an odd twist, the more cliched characters come off better than if you take them at face value. Even so, Bivens shows occasional depth through his conversations with Charlie.
Also, in terms of subject matter, “Charlie Bartlett” is a bit overstuffed. If you count the “issues” included in the movie, it starts to feel like an after-school special: prescription drug abuse, teen depression, divorce, single parents, alcoholism and suicide. The climax itself is melodramatic and unbelievable (not the part with Downey though). If anything, by trying to update and make teen movies more thoughtful, the screenwriter put a little too much on his plate.
True enough, though, is the fact that the movie never panders or admonishes. And more often than not, Charlie’s affability and human characteristics bring the movie back to ground level.
In any case, it’s good to see an optimistic go-getter in the form of Charlie Bartlett back on film again. In that way, Charlie walks the line between real-world problems and the more insular world of relationship problems of teen movies. Either way, if they remake “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” Yelchin is an obvious candidate.
““ Jake Ayres
E-mail Ayres at jayres@media.ucla.edu.