NOW ON DVD

CHARLIE BARTLETT
Rated R
Anton Yelchin, Robert Downey Jr., Hope Davis, Kat Dennings, Tyler Hilton, Mark Rendall, Megan Park

Brian’s Rating       

It’s been a while since I was in high school, but according to Charlie Bartlett, now on DVD, things haven’t changed much.

There are still bullies, nerds and jocks, as well as secret crushes, first dates, and the seemingly timeless quest for losing one’s virginity.

Into this amalgam of teenage angst rides Charlie Bartlett, a film about a charming, clever student from a privileged background who has been expelled from a series of private academies and now must enroll in public school.

With its boyishly handsome lead and a solid script, Charlie Bartlett could have easily fallen into Ferris Bueller territory but the filmmakers chose to give us a slightly more up-to-date viewpoint, adding in 21st century concerns like the routine presence of divorced parents and the medical community’s decided preference for medicating problem students.

Charlie Bartlett has a few dark moments but emerges as lighthearted fun.