I just watched Charlie Bartlett on DVD last night. This generation's Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
This movie was interesting. With comedy that some get and others don't...I got about half of it. Some of it was just a little immature for me. I enjoyed the rolls of:
- Charlie Bartlett, the confused teenager who is constantly getting himself into trouble.
- Principal Gardner, an ex-history teacher whose wife left him which forced him to alcoholism.
- Murphey Bivens, the punk-ass bully Charlie ends up befriending (stole the scene most of the time).
I feel that Anton Yelchin who played Charlie was fairly green and just a little too innocent for the role he played. However, he did some of the best, funniest accents I've seen on screen for a while. Robert Downey Jr. played the role of the alcoholic principal very well (surprise?). I love him to death though, and with an intense moment towards the end of the movie, you really see his talent. Overall is was a good movie, with a lot of discussion of dysfunctional families and showing society just what a hard time teenagers really do have.
