Get psyched for Charlie Bartlett

By Eric Donovan
Senior Staff Writer
February 27, 2008

Jon Poll makes a triumphant directorial debut with his new film, Charlie Bartlett. Having been an editor for over 20 years on films such as Scary Movie 3 and the Austin Powers trilogy, Poll proves himself worthy of helming his first film. After executive producing The 40-Year-Old Virgin back in 2005, Poll has proved he is ready to direct and it doesn’t hurt that his first film is a comedy.

“It’s really rare for someone to get to make this movie at all let alone as a first film,” said Jon Poll, in an interview with Collegian. I literally read over a hundred scripts … and I loved the voice in [Charlie Bartlett’s] script. I got an astounding cast, a great script, a really original concept...I wanted something special with something on its mind.”

Thus Charlie Bartlett was born. The film is about a private school reject named Charlie Bartlett (Anton Yelchin), a boy who decides to attend public school to fulfill his dreams of being popular. After a shaky start, he realizes the key to the students’ hearts is through his serving as an intermediary psychiatrist to them, using his family’s on-call psychiatrists to attain the proper prescription drugs his fellow students legitimately need.

While it may not seem like a laugh-out-loud comedy on paper, Poll makes it work by taking a taboo like prescription drug peddling and making it funny. When students’ families are busy with problems of their own, Charlie takes time out of his life to serve as a soundboard to the kids, albeit in his makeshift bathroom stall office.

“Ultimately I think the film is more about listening than about the drugs,” Poll said. “The drugs we clearly have fun with and play with…but the prescription drug issue is really relevant today…people are using all kinds of drugs in a recreational way they haven’t done before.”

The film has many highs (no pun intended) and just a few lows. At times, it may seem to take the subject matter a bit lightly. After all, the film is about drugs, but I think the dark humor serves the film well. One such scene: Charlie takes too much Ritalin and chaos ensues as he runs around outside in his underwear. Although a serious matter, one can’t help but laugh.

Also to be noted is the brilliant acting, including Yelchin’s (Alpha Dog) turn, of whom Poll says “this movie wouldn’t exist without him.” I couldn’t agree more. Even more surprising is Philly’s own Kat Dennings (The 40-Year-Old Virgin), who plays Susan Gardner, Charlie’s love interest and the principal's daughter. She brings a strong presence to the film and balances nicely with Yelchin’s confident yet unassuming performance. This pairing of boy and his principal’s daughter is pure genius and provides the story with a very interesting conflict triangle.

Not to be forgotten is Robert Downey Jr.’s performance as Susan’s alcoholic father/principal, whose role as a “bad-boy” principal who wants to do the right thing seems inspired by his own troubled past.

“Robert Downey Jr.’s in my movie, how did this happen?” joked Poll.

Then, there’s Hope Davis’ portrayal of Charlie’s mother, a caring yet crazy matriarch (think more Barbra Streisand in Meet the Fockers than Joan Crawford in Mommy Dearest). She, too, steals every scene she is in, and one can’t help but believe that although she is clueless, she has a heart of gold.

But the tremendous script by Gustin Nash is where this movie truly shines. While Juno got the Oscar for its script about high school (which is near flawless, if I do say so myself), Nash’s portrayal of high school is just as accurate. He allows his characters to develop naturally and believably. This authenticity is not surprising, however, as Poll states there was actually research done for the film.

“In Toronto, I visited 30 or 40 schools looking for locations, but it was really research too,” said Poll. “I saw a lot of stuff. Clearly [the drugs are] something a lot of people are gonna hit on in the film.”

Charlie Bartlett is a triumph that all amateur filmmakers should aspire to match. Poll made his dream come true and offers this advice to all others looking to make their mark: “If you find something that you’re passionate about, go with that and people respond to passion and you never know where something is going to take you.”

donovane1@lasalle.edu