This is the fifth film I saw as part of the Los Angeles Film Festival, and the last of four consecutive films I saw within a 10-hour period.
I mostly wanted to catch this due to Anton Yelchin. I find that there are certain actors that I'm attracted to watching them in roles that are supporting or not in famous movies or TV shows - i.e. before they became famous and anyone cared about them - and I always look forward to films or TV shows they do, and at some point their career took off. There are a few but the only other one that comes to mind at the moment is James McAvoy (now the darling export of British cinema).
Anton Yelchin I first saw playing the alien-human hybrid kid in the first few episodes of the epic mini-series Taken, and partly because of the type of character he is playing there I was immensely captivated by his performance. Since then he has appeared in the TV show Huff (with Hank Azaria) and the Nick Cassavetes film Alpha Dog (along with Emile Hirsch and Justin Timberlake ... the film flopped); both of which I did not see.
Here he is playing the eponymous (I love it when I get to use that word!) Charlie Bartlett, who's basically a teenager craving for acceptance from his schoolmates and gets into trouble at all the schools he's been in (without any fear of consequences or shame) to gain it. I guess I like characters like these because they are so different from all the modern flawed-to-make-realistic heroes ... characters who seem to sail through their lives onscreen with a content look on their face and have next to nothing 'character arc' ... Hollywood screenwriting rules be damned.
Again, I don't want to describe too much of the film, but to summarise the review I'd say this - that it holds itself up pretty well considering I just saw two films which were among the best films I've seen all year says quite a bit about this film.
I guess the film has some similarities - indeed, might well be partly inspired by - Harold and Maude. Not the old woman-young boy relationship part; I'm referring to the troubled, rebellious but quirky teenager part. In fact, the film goes so far as to sing the song composed by Cat Stevens (listed in the end credits as Yusuf Islam now) which was regularly sung and is completely identified with Harold and Maude.
Again, it felt like it wasn't about one single thing in particular - though it is about one character in particular, of course. It deals with Charlie himself and his exuberant self-esteem, the principal whose life is on the verge of falling apart (and it doesn't take much to guess that Charlie's appearance is bound to impact that), medicative drugs and the prevalence of such in American society, teenage behaviour in general, psychology, growing up and shedding innocence ... essentially, everything to do about the uncertainties of being a teenager (with the principal bit being the odd one out).
Worth watching.
How Good The Film Is: 8/10
How Much I Liked It: 7.5/10
At What Point Did I First Looked At My Watch: 25 mins
PS - Interestingly, in both Charlie Bartlett and Molière, both films which are named after its protagonists, have both the protagonists play acting as different types of personalities in a montage sequence.
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