Movies
Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
Wide Releases
Now In Theaters
76
(500) Days of Summer
60
9
17
All About Steve
37
Amelia
53
Astro Boy
66
Bandslam
45
Box, The
61
Capitalism: A Love Story
55
Christmas Carol, A
43
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
66
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
29
Collector, The
23
Couples Retreat
80
District 9
61
Extract
39
Fame
30
Final Destination, The
34
Fourth Kind, The
60
Funny People
32
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
27
Gamer
41
G-Force
39
Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, The
46
Halloween II
73
Hangover, The
78
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
55
I Can Do Bad All By Myself
66
Informant!, The
69
Inglourious Basterds
58
Invention of Lying, The
47
Jennifer's Body
66
Julie & Julia
34
Law Abiding Citizen
33
Love Happens
54
Men Who Stare At Goats, The
67
Michael Jackson's This Is It
51
My Sister's Keeper
42
Orphan
28
Pandorum
63
Perfect Getaway, A
86
Ponyo![]()
35
Post Grad
48
Proposal, The
30
Saw VI
53
Shorts
24
Sorority Row
83
Star Trek![]()
33
Stepfather, The
45
Surrogates
55
Taking Woodstock
47
Time Traveler's Wife
96
Toy Story/Toy Story 2 3D![]()
35
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
28
Ugly Truth, The
88
Up![]()
71
Where the Wild Things Are
67
Whip It
28
Whiteout
73
Zombieland
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Limited Releases
Now In Theaters
58
(Untitled)
96
35 Shots of Rum![]()
56
Adam
72
Adela
39
Adventures of Power
78
Afghan Star
61
After the Storm
66
Afterschool
xx
All the Best
58
American Casino
72
Amreeka
48
Antichrist
73
Araya
62
Art & Copy
55
As Seen Through These Eyes
76
Baader Meinhof Complex, The
86
Beaches of Agnes, The![]()
13
Beautiful Life, A
70
Beeswax
35
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
71
Big Fan
66
Black Dynamite
51
Blind Date
xx
Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly
76
Bliss
35
Blue Tooth Virgin, The
26
Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, The
57
Boys Are Back, The
45
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
81
Bright Star![]()
70
Bronson
45
Burning Plain, The
xx
Carriers
55
Casi Divas
57
Chelsea on the Rocks
62
Cloud 9
65
Coco Before Chanel
69
Cold Souls
59
Collapse
44
Confessionsofa Ex-Doofus-ItchyFooted Mutha
82
Cove, The![]()
75
Crude
82
Damned United, The![]()
67
Departures
xx
Dil Bole Hadippa
71
Disgrace
xx
Do Knot Disturb
70
Earth Days
24
Eating Out 3: All You Can Eat
85
Education, An![]()
55
Endgame
xx
Eulogy for a Vampire
xx
Everyone Else
xx
Fatal Promises
56
Fifty Dead Men Walking
62
Five Minutes of Heaven
74
Flame & Citron
49
Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution
80
Food, Inc.
28
Free Style
xx
From Mexico with Love
50
Fuel
25
Gentlemen Broncos
50
Give Me Your Hand
58
Gogol Bordello Non-Stop
72
Good Hair
89
Goodbye Solo![]()
52
Grace
64
Harmony and Me
81
Headless Woman, The![]()
xx
Heretics, The
63
Horse Boy, The
73
House of the Devil, The
xx
How to Seduce Difficult Women
74
Humpday
94
Hurt Locker, The![]()
29
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
16
If One Thing Matters: A Film About Wolfgang Tillmans
75
In Search of Beethoven
83
In the Loop![]()
61
Intimate Enemies
42
Irene in Time
70
It Might Get Loud
46
Killing Kasztner
19
Labor Day
xx
Laila's Birthday
41
Little Ashes
41
Little Traitor, The
66
Liverpool
34
Looking for Palladin
80
Lorna's Silence
83
Maid, The![]()
xx
Ministers, The
59
More Than a Game
67
Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, The
34
Motherhood
62
My One and Only
xx
Mystery Team
48
New York, I Love You
73
Night and Day
66
No Impact Man
47
Ong Bak 2: The Beginning
34
Other Man, The
xx
Painter Sam Francis, The
54
Paper Heart
xx
Paradise
68
Paranormal Activity
68
Paris
44
Peter and Vandy
35
Play the Game
77
Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire
xx
Pretty Ugly People
65
Providence Effect, The
76
Rembrandt's J'accuse
69
September Issue, The
79
Serious Man, A
40
Shrink
61
Skin
77
Skin Too Few: The Days of Nick Drake, A
xx
Skiptracers
46
Splinterheads
39
St. Trinian's
89
Still Walking![]()
50
Stoning of Soraya M., The
55
Storm
65
Tetro
70
That Evening Sun
72
Thirst
xx
Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D (re-release)
61
Trucker
xx
Turning Green
83
U2 3D![]()
66
Unmade Beds
66
Unmistaken Child
70
Visual Acoustics
55
Walt & El Grupo
67
Way We Get By, The
69
We Live in Public
64
Wedding Song, The
64
Where is Where?
xx
White on Rice
74
Woman in Berlin, A
69
World's Greatest Dad
70
Yes Men Fix the World
69
Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg
xx
You, the Living
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Charlie Bartlett

Mixed or average reviews
Based on 25 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 35 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Comedy
Written by: Gustin Nash
Directed by: Jon Poll
Release Date:
Theatrical: February 22, 2008
DVD: June 24, 2008
Running Time: 97 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R for language, drug content and brief nudity
Starring Anton Yelchin, Robert Downey Jr., Hope Davis, Kat Dennings, Tyler Hilton, Ishan Davé, Megan Park, and Jonathan Malen
Charlie Bartlett, a wealthy, intelligent 17-year-old, has been kicked out of nearly every boarding school in town and is now enrolled in the local public high school, headed by the reluctant Principal Gardner. Initially struggling to find a place in the new school, Charlie eventually establishes himself as the supportive listener who dispenses well-needed advice, and the occasional prescription, to mixed-up teens. As intuitive Charlie befriends and emotionally influences nearly every student at Western Summit High, the entire school begins to transform into a very different place. (Kimmel International)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt
Yelchin delivers one of those performances that pop eyes... It's a breakthrough role.
Read Full Review >Variety Ronnie Scheib
Rollicking story of a rich kid whose wildly successful bid for popularity has him playing drug-distributing shrink to an entire high school boasts pitch-perfect faceoffs between upstart Anton Yelchin and alcoholic principal Robert Downey Jr. that could fuel a chemistry lab.
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
I would classify Charlie Bartlett as a smart teen film. It's more ambitious and overall more successful than its '80s forebears even though the resemblance is unmistakable.
Read Full Review >USA Today Claudia Puig
A refreshingly entertaining character study that refuses to dumb down its youthful cast or bury their concerns in service of a catchy soundtrack.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Wesley Morris
What the movie lacks in technical polish (it's not very handsome-looking) and dramatic perfection, it makes up for in unusual social sophistication.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
With its rebellious themes and pharmaceutical props - Ritalin, Prozac, Xanax all get doled out - Charlie Bartlett isn't going to win any awards from parent-teacher groups. But the underlying message of the film, with its nods to "Catcher in the Rye" and - '70s throwback here - "Harold and Maude," is a good one.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
It reminded me of "Pump Up the Volume" in many ways.
Read Full Review >Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
The film functions as a high-wire act that can leave you giddy with laughter.
Read Full Review >New York Post Lou Lumenick
Starts to get a bit preachy as it works its way toward a climax heavily influenced by "Rushmore," but it's still well above average for this type of film.
Read Full Review >Empire Sam Toy
After a strong start, the story ceases to challenge itself and its characters, offering easy options and a Prozac-soft finish.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Ella Taylor
Like most wannabe heroes of the eager-to-please teen comedy, poor little rich boy Charlie Bartlett (Anton Yelchin) is too charming by half and not nearly quirky enough.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Stephen Holden
If the attention span of Charlie Bartlett didn’t wander here and there, the movie might have been a high school satire worthy of comparison with Alexander Payne’s “Election.” But as it dashes around and eventually turns soft, it loses its train of thought.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Marc Mohan
Instead of a unique directorial style and a memorable soundtrack, we get a movie that, visually and aurally, pretty much goes by the book.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
Robert Downey Jr. is an uncomfortable sight as the school's hard-drinking, overstressed principal.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
Sequences like the silly montage of Charlie on Ritalin (which just looks like the precious doodles of a former editor), grievously underdeveloped characters, and heavy heapings of sap instead of snark keep Charlie Bartlett from making the dean’s list.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias
Watching Charlie Bartlett only makes Wes Anderson's work seem more accomplished by comparison, because it underscores that thin line separating the agreeably fanciful from the overbearingly precious.
Read Full Review >Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
Decent acting forestalls the inevitable collapse for a long time.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Carina Chocano
For the most part, it's an uneven if amiable and occasionally inspired comedy about getting through adolescence that hits some false notes along the way.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen
Actually, occasionally, does feel good. Now if only it had something to say.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach
Spending more time with Downey's character would have benefited this movie no end.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
The dismal high school comedy Charlie Bartlett has the look, feel and sentiment of a made-for-video cheapie that might have been grudgingly whipped together by Robert Downey Jr. as some sort of court-ordered community service project for his many drug busts.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Tasha Robinson
Are teenagers really supposed to identify with a clumsy caricature such as Charlie, who, in spite of all his expulsions and school crimes, comes across as a gawping, perpetually surprised infant in an adult body?
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.2 (out of 10) based on 35 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Joe Smoe gave it a10:
Are you kidding? This film was an excellent parody of life as an American teenager in today's world: oversexed, overmedicated, dysfunctional family dynamics, completely irrational school hierarchy - and witty, funny, creative, excellent acting all across the board!
Christian L. gave it a10:
Great movie with funny parts, powerful parts, and dramatic parts. Heavily underrated movie with great plot.
Nichole K. gave it a10:
This is my favorite movie. It was very funny and very good acting. It was a smart move to cast Robert Downing Jr., and the music and score was also very well done. Good job!
Craig G. gave it a6:
An entertaining film that has some very fun scenes, and some that pretty much fall flat. It tries to be more than it really is, but it still succeeds in deciphering many of the problems that a teenager faces.
Julia A. gave it a10:
This movie was sooooooo funny it has very good actors and actresses i don't know watch the other people were talkin about. if i were a real critic i'd give it a A-
chris M. gave it a10:
this is a beautiful film, with very good actors in my opinion robet downey jr should win best supporting oscar
Jester M. gave it a0:
This movie wasn't Ferris Bueller. It wasn't even Pump Up The Volume. It was a sad and pathetic attempt for a studio to cash in on the teen angst market which they have become so adept at exploiting. But who can blame them, when we have a teenage population in this country with the cultural force of a Paris Hilton song, who can blame the suits for trying to take full advantage of the situation. The sad thing our teen friends won't even lift their lazy heads high enough off of their Sidekick devices to actually care. It's not Nevermind anymore, it's Neverwhere.
