Charlie Bartlett

Pity the poor old white upper classes will you? For the last decade and a bit now we've been bombarded with films telling us that financial security and the what not brings with it its fair share of trauma. Oh who cares if you have to choose between eating and paying the fuel bill, Tarquin's grades are dipping after he was put on Prozac. At times these films have actually approached watchability, usually when done from a comic perspective, such as Little Miss Sunshine, or even TV show Arrested Development. But all too often what we are left with is a big whiney heap of shit, full of unlikeable characters and condescending attitudes. Hello Charlie Bartlett. What's that? You're attempting to be the former? You haven't succeeded have you?

Basically this is a film that's asking you to root for a chauffeur-driven brat who's been kicked out of every private school he's attended just because he wants to be loved so much he's decided to win the affections of everyone by breaking the law. Bless. Oh and did I mention he's a bit fucked up because Daddy went away? Not some horrible death, no, rather he's in jail for tax evasion. Doesn't your heart just warm to him? No? Well what if his latest ruse was to sell anti-depressants to all those poor, white high school kids who can't cope? It certainly wins them over. Soon Charlie's the saviour of the student body, and commands the respect of not only the cheerleaders, but the working class bully too. You see if you just reach out to those beneath your social standing they'll come to respect you, tweed blazer and all. Of course it's not the most troubling idea of the film, rather that it seems to be saying that actually we should pump tenes full of pills so they can cope, because anti-depressants are just so amazing.

It's condescending drivel. And worse it's completely unbelievable condescending drivel. Charlie's an utter shit, yet everyone grows to love him. The solution to one kid trying to kill himself? Let's out on a play written by him! Huzzah! This is a world where everything will sort itself out, as long as you put faith on those with money to do it for you. Christ, he even befriends the mentally retarded boy, just to show us he's got a heart. The only saving grace is the acting, which is excellent, but Robert Downey Jr. is wasted as head teacher who can identify with Charlie because he's been through some of the same stuff and all that.

Essentially Charlie Bartlett is another of those "indie" films that are basically blockbusters for the artsy crowd. It ticks every box it's supposed to, you can see where it's going before the first act is over, and it feels the need to bludgeon you with its, pretty unoriginal, message, at one point his mother actually says; "I've treated you as an adult for so long you missed you're childhood and now we're paying for it". Yeah, we got that, THE MOMENT HE TURNED UP IN A FUCKING BLAZER! Sorry, stopped taking my Ritalin today.