by Missy Thompson

GUEST COLUMNIST

Films about high schools or the years spent in high school tend to have a negative connotation. Take the "American Pie" series or "Mean Girls" for example, they are funny movies but do not necessarily show high school in a positive light. Rarely are films about these teenage years accurate.

The new film that attempts to break this mold is "Charlie Bartlett." While still using humor as a way to express high school, "Charlie Bartlett" shows both the positive and negative sides from popularity to extracurricular activities. However, it fails to break the high school movie stereotypes.

Everyone remembers high school differently, whether it was a good experience or not. But, what rarely gets told in a film is the inside happenings that only the students are aware of. "Charlie Bartlett" shows this on the surface while exaggerating the details.

The best part of this movie is the witty dialogue and excellent characters that make the movie better than it would have been otherwise. Running at just over an hour and a half in length, the last third of the film drags on. If 10 minutes had been cut, or a better subplot was added, "Charlie Bartlett" would be an all-around wonderful movie. Unfortunately, neither of those things happened, making the movie seem lazy.

Charlie Bartlett (Anton Yelchin) is a rich kid who has been kicked out of many East Coast private high schools. The most recent reason was for running a laminating shop out of his dorm room and making fake IDs for students. He returns home to live with his strange mother Marilyn (Hope Davis) and attend a public high school.

Charlie has a recurring daydream that everyone in his school will stand up and shout his name because of his popularity. Things start off on the wrong foot at his new school where he acts nice to everyone, but the other students don't return his sentiment. After seeing a psychologist, Charlie receives a prescription for Ritalin to help him concentrate. Then he gets the brilliant idea of helping kids out in school by listening to their problems and getting prescriptions for them.

Meanwhile Charlie begins dating Susan Gardner (Kat Dennings), who happens to be the principal's (Robert Downey, Jr.) daughter. The father-boyfriend relationship is not the healthiest as Principal Gardner's reputation goes downhill and Charlie's skyrockets. With the help of his new friends, Charlie feels as if he is doing a favor for the other students in the school. However, when one of them overdoses, he realizes his talents of psychology may be better served elsewhere.

Writer Gustin Nash does not have much experience in writing, but his witty script definitely makes "Charlie Bartlett" a fun film to watch. It is also very identifiable. Most teenagers in high school are going through an identity crisis, unsure of who they are or where they are going in life. "Charlie Bartlett" focuses on that aspect of high school.

While much of the film is enjoyable, I can see how some may be annoyed or even scared to think of their children taking prescription drugs without a prescription. If you can look beyond that, you will probably think "Charlie Bartlett" is a closer representation of high school life than other teen comedies.

missy@tooeletranscript.com

Grade: B-

Rated: R

Time: 97 minutes

Now playing