Charlie Bartlett
You know “Charlie Bartlett” is more than just a standard high school movie when Robert Downey Jr. shows up as a weak-willed, self-loathing alcoholic principal. With no visible effort, Downey communicates the intelligence, the sadness and the instability of principal Nathan Gardner, a teacher at heart who can’t remake himself into a full-time disciplinarian. It’s a funny, lively, deeply felt performance that’s as good as the work that gets nominated for Oscars, but Downey of course has no chance. “Charlie Bartlett” was released by MGM, a moribund studio that can’t be bothered to give its quirkier properties the push they need. It’s just as good as “Juno,” which the savvy promoters at Fox Searchlight parlayed into huge profits and an Oscar for its mediocre screenplay. “Charlie Bartlett” could use a few more “Juno”-style snarky one-liners, and it sometimes tries too hard to create iconic teen-movie moments, as when the hero announces to a crowd of admirers that he’s just lost his virginity. But it’s remarkable for its fresh approach to an established formula. It sets up the clichés – wimps and bullies, jocks and cheerleaders, drama nerds – and breezily subverts them. Anton Yelchin proves charismatic and versatile as the title character, an overprivileged savant who gets kicked out of private school and appoints himself psychiatrist to his eager new classmates. Scamming his own shrinks for medication, Charlie wins the popularity he so desperately covets. The movie deserves that kind of love, but it can’t charm audiences if they don’t know it’s there.
LISTEN: Charlie Bartlett