Charlie Bartlett

Movie: Charlie Bartlett

Actors: Anton Yelchin, Robert Downey Jr., Hope Davis, Kat Dennings

This under movie was pretty under the radar, as I'm sure not too many people remember when it came out awhile ago (2007). I recall seeing a preview for it and thinking "hm, that movie looks interesting."

So I finally got around to seeing it and I was extremely pleased at how excellent the story telling unfolded, as well as the strong and believable cast. Anton Yelchin (who's also in the recent Star Trek movie as Chekov for all you who've seen it) plays an extremely intelligent high school student who can't seem to help but get expelled from all his snooty tie wearing private high schools.

Much like the movie Rushmore (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rushmore_(film)) Yelchin seems to have an overactive ambition that leads him into misguided behavior which, while never being malicious, seems to strike a negative chord with the administration.

He lives in a lonely mansion with mother Hope Davis living with the absence of his father (you'll find out what happened to him). He eventually winds up at a public school, struggling to make new friends, however this soon changes with the initial assistance of dealings in numerous medications.

Once he takes on the roll as self proclaimed school psychiatrist listening to the problems of the students when no one else will, the story really begins to pick up.

As I mentioned before, I found the cast extremely believable in the roles which contributed to the overall enjoyability of the movie. Downey Jr. is an alcoholic single parent and principle of the school Yelchin is attending. He seems to not care about his job, which leads to Yelchin's inevitable rise as the school's heroic voice.

I found the pacing of the movie to be flawless in never missing a beat and I was never bored watching these interesting characters develop. I was truly rooting for Yelchin the entire movie, even when he was getting in trouble with the school for dealing the medicinal drugs. Never once did I find myself questioning any motives behind the characters actions, and it all somehow made a great deal of sense.

I definitely learned much from this movie, and I found myself thinking about what a 17 year old in high school really wants in life at that point, and what they should do with what they are given.

I highly recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys a plot revolving around interesting character development with likable and believable characters.