Charlie Bartlett

R

Released Feb 22, 2008

1 hr. 38 min.

Comedy

Drama

Romance

List

58%

131 Reviews

Tomatometer

71%

100,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Awkward teenager Charlie Bartlett (Anton Yelchin) has trouble fitting in at a new high school. Charlie needs some friends fast, and decides that the best way to find them is to appoint himself the resident psychiatrist. He becomes one of the most popular guys in school by doling out advice and, occasionally, medication, to the student body.

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Critics Consensus

With engaging performances marked by an inconsistent tone, Charlie Bartlett is a mixed bag of clever teen angst comedy and muddled storytelling.

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steve d

Some good performances but a mixed bag of tones and a confused script sinks it.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I loved this movie. It has everything that I want in a movie, a fantastic cast, a good story, phenomenal character development, great story progression, a message or purpose, humor, a well thought out premise, a good script, and a satisfying ending. This movie has nearly everything you could hope for in a coming of age comedy centered around a directionless high school student and is able to capture the spirit of the issues that are being dealt with by both teenagers and adults today. Although it is a little predictable and quirky at times this is definitely a movie that is worth watching, and re-watching, in my opinion. It may be just one in a long line of coming of age movies that embodies teenage angst but this is the movie I suggest to anyone looking for this type of movie.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

Full Review

robert p

I love movies that show students taking advantage of free help and drugs because their parents do not know exactly what their kids are doing in this day and age, that's why I give this movie a *4* star rating.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Paul K

Never heard of this movie till I viewed it. Very good teenage movie. Sorta a comedy but with some serious issues involved. Great performances across the board.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

07/15/21

Full Review

Audience Member

Great fantastic funny and sad at the same time movie starring the guy from star trek, the girl from 2 broke girls and Robert Downey Jr. This movie is the perfect film i need right now and I love that it takes place in high school. I will 100 percent see this movie again and yes this movie does have some plot holes especially his parents because they shouldve been deleted from it. But besides that, that's my only major concern about this movie and I had a great time.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/19/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I actually really enjoyed the movie. Im a ADHD person and i actually can follow the jumps in the story and can agree with many of the issues that was shown in this movie.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/26/23

Full Review

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Jon Poll

Director

Anton Yelchin

Charlie Bartlett

Robert Downey Jr.

Principal Gardner

Hope Davis

Marilyn Bartlett

Kat Dennings

Susan Gardner

Tyler Hilton

Murphy Bivens

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Steve Rose

Guardian

The promising themes peter out as the film loses direction, though, and Bartlett is neither sympathetic enough to root for nor dumb enough to laugh at.

Rated: 2/5

Oct 18, 2008

Full Review

Sam Toy

Empire Magazine

There are plenty of good qualities in Charlie; it just needed to apply itself a little more.

Rated: 3/5

May 16, 2008

Full Review

Alonso Duralde

MSNBC

[F]eels like little more than an amalgam of great moments from the John Hughes oeuvre as well as from Thumbsucker, Pump Up the Volume and Over the Edge, among others.

May 1, 2008

Full Review

Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

Alternating between serious drama and comic absurdity, the film never settles on a consistent mood, which in turn mixes the messages it attempts to deliver.

Rated: 6/10

Nov 28, 2020

Full Review

Jason Best

What's On TV

Like its protagonist, Jon Poll's debut movie is quirky and smart; how much you enjoy it, though, will probably depend on whether you warm to smug, troubled Charlie.

Nov 20, 2020

Full Review

Kelly Vance

East Bay Express

Writer Gustin Nash and director Jon Poll have their Ferris Bueller thing working perfectly, with a few 2008 wrinkles.

Apr 28, 2011

Full Review

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Synopsis

Awkward teenager Charlie Bartlett (Anton Yelchin) has trouble fitting in at a new high school. Charlie needs some friends fast, and decides that the best way to find them is to appoint himself the resident psychiatrist. He becomes one of the most popular guys in school by doling out advice and, occasionally, medication, to the student body.

Director: Jon Poll
Executive Producer: William Horberg, Jennifer Perini, Trish Hofmann, Bruce Toll
Screenwriter: Gustin Nash
Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Production Co: Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, Permut Presentations
Rating: R (Drug Content|Brief Nudity|Language)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 22, 2008, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 19, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $4.0M
Sound Mix: Dolby SRD, DTS, SDDS
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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