My friend Lauren and I did another movie trade-off, and this time she was nice enough to coincidentally choose something that was already on my to-do list. Since she didn’t pick a super-girly movie, she’ll have the joy of watching something not entirely based on murdering people sometime soon (Boiler Room was my latest choice).
Basic plot: A rich kid plays psychiatrist for his entire high school.
I had really high expectations for this movie. The trailers made it look like a nice, quirky indie comedy and Robert Downey Jr. is awesome, so I was certain I’d love it. But, regrettably my expectations weren’t met.
While watching, I came to the realization that a lot of it is because I simply don’t tend to enjoy movies that use high school as the main setting. Out of my 400 movie DVD collection, I own maybe three movies that use high school as a major setting? I have more movies that take place under the ocean. High school just doesn’t interest me.
Yes, I hated high school, but certainly not because I didn’t have friends or was picked on or any of these cliches nearly every single high school movie is about. I hated it because literally 85% of everything I “learned” has proven to be 100% useless, and I knew that was going to be the case when I was there. And that bugged the shit out of me. But I digress. All that to say it’s hard to make me care about the events in movies that take place in high school because I can’t escape the feeling that, were these stories real, it would never matter in the long run – just like high school.
My biggest disappointment with Charlie Bartlett is that it couldn’t decide what the hell kind of movie it was. Is it a quirky indie comedy like Juno? Is it a teen sex comedy like American Pie? Is it a high school epic like Fast Times at Ridgmont High? Is it a PG-13 high school comedy like The New Guy? It never really hit a rhythm for me.
I love the concept; kind of a “Great Brain” for a modern generation, but the style is all over the place. My biggest irritation is that the humor goes way too “big” on several occasions where it feels like the drunk guy at a party that’s convinced he’s funnier when he’s louder. I’m more a fan of quick and sharp wit, and this had it on several occasions, I just wish it had lasted the entire duration.
I’m also not a fan of the 27-mini-arcs this movie has. Granted, as I already said, it reminds me of a modernization of the Great Brain books which were chapter to chapter stories, but for a 90-minute movie I think it would’ve been fine sticking to its self-appointed psychiatrist bit the whole time. I wasn’t really bored at any point, but the flow felt awkward to me.
The cast is okay. Charlie Bartlett is quite good most of the time, Robert Downey Jr. is too cool to say anything bad about, and the girl is definitely not one of my favorite actresses. It’s a bit of a mish-mash cast to go with a mish-mash plot progression.
If the movie were more consistant I would have loved it. But as it stands, I’d say it’s passable at best. If you’re really curious, give it a chance and judge for yourself. Maybe you’ll like it now that I’ve probably obliterated your expectations. My own expectations were high and they were very much not met.
Maybe rent it. Maybe.
April 1st, 2009 at 1:01 am
Three o’Clock High. Greatest movie ever made. Set in high school.
April 1st, 2009 at 8:25 am
You are silly. This movie is effing amazing.
Though I do agree about the girl; I didn’t quite care for her.
April 1st, 2009 at 9:16 am
I’ve never even heard of that, Bill.
I can name a few stupid movies I enjoy that take place in high school (Napoleon Dynamite, Mighty Ducks 3, etc.), but the less time spent in the hallways the better. The school in this movie also confused me. They took all the exact same high-school character molds and set them in this oddly hip high school (or do most high schools have hang-out shacks outside for their students with pool tables and couches and tv’s?), but then sometimes the school isn’t so hip (like when it moves towards becoming a NORMAL high school). A little too much of the movie felt like it was spent bitching about “rights” that I can’t even imagine students ever having to begin with. Nothing about the movie really felt anchored in reality.
Lauren, I think one of the biggest things that hurt it were simply my expectations. From the trailers, I honestly expected to love every second of this movie. You seemed to love it and even right before I got off the computer to go watch it, one of my best friends called it “awesome” so I was really excited. I wouldn’t call it a bad movie by any stretch; I just think it’s imbalanced and could’ve been better.
April 1st, 2009 at 3:03 pm
Fast Times is set in High School and it is fucking awesome.
Sadly, I’m inclined to agree with your review. i had BIG hopes for this flick, and ultimately was let down. It’s a good movie, but considering the cast(It’s fuckin’ Iron Man, for crying out loud!) I was expecting this to be a great movie. Oh well. At least people don’t turn into disco balls when they step into the sunlight (I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist).
April 1st, 2009 at 5:39 pm
You haven’t seen Sixteen Candles have you? That is probably my favorite high school movie off of the top of my head.
April 1st, 2009 at 6:05 pm
Connor, Fast Times is actually one of the few high school movies I own. Honestly, I don’t think it’s quite as classically hilarious as people act like it is, but I think it’s funny and respect and respect it as one of the originals.
Steve, no, I haven’t, but it’s on my to-do list. Somewhere back there.