This is the story: Charlie Bartlett, Anton Yelchin, is expelled from private school, and is sent to the public school by his rich Mom. He has high school outsider adventures until he sets himself up as an amateur psychiatrist with a illicit pharmacy, and then everyone loves him including the principal's daughter, Susan, played by Kat Dennings. The principal, played by Robert Downey Jr, has his own mental health issues, and this is an interesting plot twist, rather like Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
There are engaging performances from Anton Yelchin and Robert Downey Jr. They are fun to watch. I would like to see more from Anton. Kat Dennings and Hope Davis give interesting performances, but their characters are not as rich.
The first half of the movie where Charlie has problems and needs to solve them is far more interesting than when he is solving other people's problems. I did like the Kip Crombwell suicide episode.
This movie could have used some punched up dialog. It makes me appreciate Diablo Cody's Juno. The end was embarrassingly sappy. I almost closed my eyes.
There are engaging performances from Anton Yelchin and Robert Downey Jr. They are fun to watch. I would like to see more from Anton. Kat Dennings and Hope Davis give interesting performances, but their characters are not as rich.
The first half of the movie where Charlie has problems and needs to solve them is far more interesting than when he is solving other people's problems. I did like the Kip Crombwell suicide episode.
This movie could have used some punched up dialog. It makes me appreciate Diablo Cody's Juno. The end was embarrassingly sappy. I almost closed my eyes.