| 80 |
The Hollywood Reporter
Kirk Honeycutt
Yelchin delivers one of those performances that pop eyes... It's a breakthrough role.
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| 80 |
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.
|
| 75 |
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.
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| 75 |
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.
|
| 75 |
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.
|
| 75 |
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.
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| 70 |
Chicago Reader
Jonathan Rosenbaum
It reminded me of "Pump Up the Volume" in many ways.
|
| 70 |
Wall Street Journal
Joe Morgenstern
The film functions as a high-wire act that can leave you giddy with laughter.
|
| 63 |
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.
|
| 63 |
TV Guide
Ken Fox
Jon Poll's harmless, occasionally entertaining debut feature.
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| 60 |
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.
|
| 60 |
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.
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| 58 |
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.
|
| 58 |
Entertainment Weekly
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Robert Downey Jr. is an uncomfortable sight as the school's hard-drinking, overstressed principal.
|
| 50 |
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.
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| 50 |
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.
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| 50 |
Charlotte Observer
Lawrence Toppman
Decent acting forestalls the inevitable collapse for a long time.
|
| 50 |
San Francisco Chronicle
David Wiegand
A relentlessly earnest teen film.
|
| 50 |
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.
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| 50 |
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Rick Groen
Actually, occasionally, does feel good. Now if only it had something to say.
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| 50 |
Baltimore Sun
Chris Kaltenbach
Spending more time with Downey's character would have benefited this movie no end.
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| 30 |
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
The movie feels forced, cliched and derivative.
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| 25 |
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.
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| 25 |
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?
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