Charlie Bartlett

Charlie Bartlett

Directed by Jon Poll (R)

A prep-school kid becomes a public-school hero by pushing pills and psychotherapy.

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Charlie Bartlett shows a lot of promise, said Stephen Holden in The New York Times. But it “never coalesces into the character-driven, serious comedy with heart that you want it to be.” Anton Yelchin is Charlie, a poor little rich kid who gets sent to public school after being kicked out of too many private schools. He’s unpopular until he begins doling out advice—along with a “pharmacy’s worth of prescription drugs”—to his classmates. Yelchin effortlessly slides into the role of a 21st-century Ferris Bueller. But Charlie lacks Ferris’ effortless couth, said Wesley Morris in The Boston Globe. The directors’ constant references to that and other, far better movies about precocious teens—Rushmore, Harold and Maude—are too obvious. The film shares their rebellious spirit and sarcastic sense of humor, said Loey Lockerby in The Kansas City Star. But Charlie Bartlett seems hyperactive and ultimately loses focus. Its satirical sensibility goes out the window as the plot wraps up like “an after-school special,” saturated with sentiment and life lessons. Still, compared to most teen movies, Charlie Bartlett is relatively easy to swallow.