I’m a little bit late with this, but hey what can I say… I’ve been busy!

Last week I saw Charlie Bartlett directed by Jon Poll and written by Gustin nash. Here is a synopsis from IMDb.com if you have no idea what movie I am talking about: “A rich kid (Yelchin) becomes the self-appointed psychiatrist to the student body of his new high school.” Check out the trailer: Here.

If you have already read other reviews about this, I am sure that you have heard the comparisons made with Ferris Bueller’s Day Off or that it is a “rip-off” of said movie. Whatever you may have read along those lines… forget it!

Charlie Bartlett is a high school comedy that subtly breaks a few boundaries in said genre. The film focuses on the teen angst theme, embodying the ever popular “parents just don’t understand” phrase. We follow on a journey that Charlie goes on trying to get others to accept him, while facing the difficulties of accepting himself.

The best part about this film is that they made the bold move of using young actors that do not have familiar faces (ie: Lindsay Lohan). Anton Yelchin did a fantastic job as the complex and quirky character Charlie Bartlett. Kat Dennings took a role that could have very easily been a burned out character and managed to make her into a unique and very memorable person.

Although this film is not filled with knee-slapping moments such as Superbad, Charlie Bartlett was able to capture high school moments that actually happen and make them laughable (as they so quite often are in reality). The film makes it easy to relate to with these awkward instances, whether you went to a high school like the one portrayed in the film or you didn’t. It focused so much on each student as individuals as opposed to grouping them into cliques as in Mean Girls.

During the Q & A with Gustin Nash, in response to the question of whether the film had some autobiographical events in it, he said that all of his projects had a touch of his life in them. It is quite clear that there was a little bit of Charlie Bartlett in all of us, especially as we were growing up in high school. Charlie Bartlett is insecure, he’s confident, always seeking approval, yet doing things his own way. Sounds like a teenager, doesn’t it?

If you enjoyed movies like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off or The Breakfast Club, then you will enjoy Charlie Bartlett and every nostalgic bit of it.