MovieChat Forums > Charlie Bartlett (2008) Discussion > Just AWFUL

Just AWFUL

posted 16 years ago by bLakLuNgZz
100 replies | jump to latest

This movie was painful to watch from beginning to lame, predictable end. Not even a quarter of the way through, and I was already hoping for the main character to "off" himself. That would've been a small, glimmering light cast upon this completely in-the-dark movie. Instead, I will just have to settle for Robert Downey Jr.'s performance.

This movie was completely pointless and contrived. Think "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", then detach all realism and common sense and you will have "Charlie Bartlett". It would be a run-of-the-mill teen movie if not for the total lack of a story, enormous plotholes, and the ridiculously incomprehensible devotion to the main character as the focus.

Anton Yelchin shows absolutely no range as an actor in this movie. He expresses sadness by giving us a kind of "puppy-dog" look and slumping his head over and happiness by over-the-top smiling. His voice is like that of a pre-pubescent boy and is basically a monotone throughout the movie. They were likely trying to emphasize his calm, cool, and collected nature but instead it ended up seeming very unnatural and forced. On top of that, the character had no depth whatsoever, but that is no fault of the actor.

So, Charlie gets kicked out of private school and enlisted into a vastly different public school resulting in the "fish-out-of-water". Charlie is sent to a shrink for his misdeeds, and is prescribed with Ritalin. He gets high and decides to peddle it at school. Here's the funny part: he becomes an overnight sensation because of it. Every student gets high off of Ritalin at a school dance and mayhem ensues. All of a sudden, all of the kids at school want to see him because he's the guy that's got the goods. Charlie manages to somehow not be discovered by the principal (Downey Jr.) and continues to peddle meds to way too many kids out of the school bathroom for two weeks or so. When he is finally discovered to have been nearly liable for the death of a fellow student (unsuccessful suicide attempt) he is suspended for a whole three days. No jail time necessary, not even an expulsion. In the end, the problem and solution to everybody's problem is within Charlie Bartlett. I'm going to cut this short because I'm not looking to do a monologue.

2/10

[–] DP_IL 15 years ago

Ferris Bueller had realism and common sense?

Look, I love Ferris Bueller's Day Off. It's one of my favorite movies and it gets extra points for being set in my home of Chicago. But realistic? C'mon.

Ferris is somehow able to hack into his school's database from home and change his absences. And the entire thing with Sloan's grandmother was completely unrealistic. So in the 1980s, a kid can hack into a school's database before the advent of the Internet but apparently no one can look up the funeral home in the yellow pages to confirm? The same goes for the scene at the restaurant in the city. It'd take more than that to steal a reservation, especially once the real sausage king showed up. And don't forget the parade where somehow Ferris is able to get on a float when the cops keep Sloan and Cameron at bay.

So many answers to the question of "why" in that movie are summed up as, "because he's Ferris Bueller, that's why." And also, we are never shown how Ferris got his popularity or why he's so well-liked by not only his school, but one of the biggest cities in the world. And why? Because he's Ferris Bueller, that's why.

If you hate Charlie Bartlett and love Ferris Bueller's Day Off, that's fine. Personally, I love them both. But when one of your central complaints is that Ferris Bueller had more realism and common sense, then you're really reaching.

[–] beautyinabreakdown 15 years ago

Personally I love this film. It's funny, it's got great performances-whatever you say, I think Anton Yelchin portrayed a wide range and was brilliant in this film. It's not just your average comedy film, it's actually very unqiue and clever. I do understand why some people could call it 'awful', I think it's one of those films that's like marmite. You either love it, like me, or hate it like the OP.

An idea is only relevant if it's being thought apon.

[–] caroms2051 15 years ago

BLacKLunzZ (sp?) -- originator of this string:

I liked your plot synopsis. I was channel surfing this evening and I found 'Charlie Bartlett' by accident, and because the opening sequence has Hope Davis in it, I continued to watch it. After twenty minutes, I couldn't stand it and clicked off the TeeVee. By reading your entire post I found out what happened after Charlie went crackers and the cops showed up.

Agree with you about Anton Yelchin. Blecch. (His 'monologue' where he auditions for the part in a play by actng the part of a girl who has just had her first encounter with 'mother nature.' -- that might have been funny except that after seeing Dwayne 'the Rock' Johnson do 'an audition monologue' by using a scene from the cheerleader movie, "Bring it On," it just seemed like a rip off.)

Bottom line: I will never watch another movie without going first to IMDb to see if its worth even a tiny investment of my time, which is so precious....

[–] lklrlolnlilkl 15 years ago

Awful indeed, how this crap got a 7.2 is beyond me.

[–] Kajiit 15 years ago

OP I'm not replying to you (I just don't know how to post in general without replying if that's possible?)... this is a big LULZ at everybody in here arguing over whether this movie sucks or not and calling each other crazy for liking or disliking it. It's called an opinion. A movie isn't going to please everybody and no, nobody is crazy for disagreeing with you. Arguing with them isn't going to change anything. I know some of you (though I only SKIMMED through TWO pages of this nonsense (jk it's just because I haven't seen it yet and there was a lot of spoilers floating around)) are just voicing your opinions, but then some of you are shoving your "facts" about how bad or good this movie is down other people's throats. It is a waste of time and you are stupid. Your opinion isn't the opinion of everybody else's. The end. Get over it. Move on.

[–] cannotlogon103 15 years ago

It showed promise for about 15 minutes (I like Robert Downey and Hope Davis), but quickly crashed and burned into a combination of over-the-top absurdity and banal cliches.

Disappointing.

Fry: I like you, Seymour, you're not constantly judging me like all the other dogs.

[–] barriexcore 15 years ago

SPOILER

Only thing I'm going to say is, OP and subsequent people keep bringing up the point about "making pills cool" but skipping over the obvious fact where he realized he did something wrong when he was made aware of Kip's suicide attempt/overdose. Clearly you then missed the following scenes where he not only went to visit Kip to make sure he was okay; you also missed the one where him and Murph dump all the pills down the toilet (and he had to even convince Murph it wasn't a good idea to do it anymore despite Murph's insistence). He was clearly doing this to help the kids at his school, not just as a cheap attempt to make some cash (though I'm sure that was a perk, think of all the kids/dealers out there who sell pills and prescription drugs simply to make money. They wouldn't go out of their way to visit someone who had OD'd if they legitimately didn't care).

Agreed, this was entirely satirical. Set to poke fun/realize the wrong-doings of doctors who just prescribe medicine to all kids who come see them. Never in my life have I heard of giving kids Xanax or Zoloft for PANIC ATTACKS, but I wouldn't put it past a doctor to actually do that in real life in some instances.

The point is, that Charlie was just a kid and didn't know what he was doing. He was just mimicking his doctors and what they'd do to him. Who's to say a kid wouldn't overdose on prescription medication regardless of whether it was actually given to him/her by a doctor OR a fellow student at their high school.

[–] billwenham 12 years ago

Wait so Ferris Bueller's Day Off was realistic? Really?

[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]

[–] sduck 12 years ago

Stupid movie, couldn't even finish it.

[–] King_Of_Fuh 12 years ago

It just finished on the THIS-TV network. Yeah, it was bad. Any movie that starts with a new kid getting beat up and he then goes on to get the hot girl is pretty lame. That may happen in another universe, but please, if you're going to make a preposterous, unrealistic movie about high school, make it a porn flick.