Directed by Jon Poll
The doctor is in, and he’s a 17-year old private-school reject faking mental illness to obtain pills for resale to his fellow students.
Anton Yelchin may be toothache-inducingly sweet as Charlie Bartlett, but while the film glimmers with some moments of insight, they are overshadowed by the circumstance’s lack of plausibility.
Quirky, optimistic, and endearing, Charlie revolutionizes the role of the high-school schemer when he combats a delinquent bully by psychoanalyzing his anti-social behaviour. Charlie then enlists him to help sell the Ritalin he was prescribed by his family’s personal psychiatrist.
Robert Downey Jr. channels his pre-rehab self to play Mr. Gardner, the alcoholic, deadbeat principal whose ineffective governance over an out-of-control school is worsened by Charlie’s authority over the student body.
Charlie Bartlett experiences some genre conflict—as though it haphazardly mixed psychoactive drugs. The premise is absurd comedy, but before long, the film becomes sentimentalized, and turns into a pseudo-inspirational sermon on individuality.
Nevertheless, Yelchin is at the height of his powers, completely embodying the role of sweetheart schemer Charlie Bartlett, who learns that with great popularity comes great responsibility in a film that comes down after an initial high.
— Zaren Healey White
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