Some are saying move over Ferris and make room for your 21st Century replacement — a young lad named “Charlie Bartlett.” But, others or saying that is still open for debate.
Anton Yelchin stars as the wealthy teenager Charlie Bartlett who, like his 20th Century counterpart, is finding it hard to find his place at his new public high school. A product of the rich and famous private school academy set (although he has been kicked out of them all), Charlie must begin to navigate this new social hierarchy. There is one major difference between Charlie and Ferris…Charlie is a truth-teller. Other than that, just like Ferris Bueller, Charlie is overly optimistic of his ability and future, and most importantly, a fearless schemer.
To find his niche in this new and strange environment called the Public School System, Charlie uses his naturally gifted honesty and charm to become the resident bathroom psychiatrist for the school’s disenfranchised and outcast students, dishing out advice and the occassional prescriptions from his stall as his “patients” sit in the other stall with only the wall dividing them in a priest/parishoner type setting.
Everything is going great for Charlie, and then he makes one serious mistake, he begins taking his own advice. He falls in love with the beautiful and aggressive daughter (Kat Dennings) of the school’s increasingly disenchanted Principal, aptly portrayed by Robert Downey, Jr. (“Iron Man”), who finds a new reason for living by getting hot on Charlie’s tail. Charlie Bartlett soon finds his new world and successful psychiatric practice beginning to fall apart, but in the process learns there’s a whole lot more to making a difference in the lives of others than handing out false hopes and fake pills.
“Charlie Bartlett” premeries tomorrow, Friday, February 22nd. Yelchin makes his first really big splash with this movie, however, in May 2009 the role of his lifetime makes it to the big screen as he stars as Pavel Chekov for the highly anticipated J.J. Abrams film “Star Trek.”
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