Charlie Bartlett | Rotten Tomatoes (2025)

58% Tomatometer 131 Reviews 71% Popcornmeter 100,000+ Ratings

Awkward teenager Charlie Bartlett (Anton Yelchin) has trouble fitting in at a new high school. Charlie needs some friends fast, and decides that the best way to find them is to appoint himself the resident psychiatrist. He becomes one of the most popular guys in school by doling out advice and, occasionally, medication, to the student body.

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Charlie Bartlett

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Critics Consensus

With engaging performances marked by an inconsistent tone, Charlie Bartlett is a mixed bag of clever teen angst comedy and muddled storytelling.

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Critics Reviews

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Charlie Bartlett | Rotten Tomatoes (1) Steve Rose Guardian The promising themes peter out as the film loses direction, though, and Bartlett is neither sympathetic enough to root for nor dumb enough to laugh at. Rated: 2/5 Oct 18, 2008 Full Review Charlie Bartlett | Rotten Tomatoes (2) Sam Toy Empire Magazine There are plenty of good qualities in Charlie; it just needed to apply itself a little more. Rated: 3/5 May 16, 2008 Full Review Charlie Bartlett | Rotten Tomatoes (3) Alonso Duralde MSNBC [F]eels like little more than an amalgam of great moments from the John Hughes oeuvre as well as from Thumbsucker, Pump Up the Volume and Over the Edge, among others. May 1, 2008 Full Review Charlie Bartlett | Rotten Tomatoes (4) Mike Massie Gone With The Twins Alternating between serious drama and comic absurdity, the film never settles on a consistent mood, which in turn mixes the messages it attempts to deliver. Rated: 6/10 Nov 28, 2020 Full Review Charlie Bartlett | Rotten Tomatoes (5) Jason Best What's On TV Like its protagonist, Jon Poll's debut movie is quirky and smart; how much you enjoy it, though, will probably depend on whether you warm to smug, troubled Charlie. Nov 20, 2020 Full Review Charlie Bartlett | Rotten Tomatoes (6) Kelly Vance East Bay Express Writer Gustin Nash and director Jon Poll have their Ferris Bueller thing working perfectly, with a few 2008 wrinkles. Apr 28, 2011 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Godfrey D Its a greatest movie. Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/10/24 Full Review Бавуу Э Awkward teenager Charlie Bartlett (Anton Yelchin) has trouble fitting in at a new high school. Charlie needs some friends fast, and decides that the best way to find them is to appoint himself the resident psychiatrist. He becomes one of the most popular guys in school by doling out advice and, occasionally, medication, to the student body. Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/09/24 Full Review steve d Some good performances but a mixed bag of tones and a confused script sinks it. Rated 2/5 Stars • Rated 2 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member I loved this movie. It has everything that I want in a movie, a fantastic cast, a good story, phenomenal character development, great story progression, a message or purpose, humor, a well thought out premise, a good script, and a satisfying ending. This movie has nearly everything you could hope for in a coming of age comedy centered around a directionless high school student and is able to capture the spirit of the issues that are being dealt with by both teenagers and adults today. Although it is a little predictable and quirky at times this is definitely a movie that is worth watching, and re-watching, in my opinion. It may be just one in a long line of coming of age movies that embodies teenage angst but this is the movie I suggest to anyone looking for this type of movie. Rated 4/5 Stars • Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review robert p I love movies that show students taking advantage of free help and drugs because their parents do not know exactly what their kids are doing in this day and age, that's why I give this movie a *4* star rating. Rated 4/5 Stars • Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Paul K Never heard of this movie till I viewed it. Very good teenage movie. Sorta a comedy but with some serious issues involved. Great performances across the board. Rated 4.5/5 Stars • Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 07/15/21 Full Review Read all reviews

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Cast & Crew

Jon Poll Director Anton Yelchin Charlie Bartlett Robert Downey Jr. Principal Gardner Hope Davis Marilyn Bartlett Kat Dennings Susan Gardner Tyler Hilton Murphy Bivens
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Synopsis Awkward teenager Charlie Bartlett (Anton Yelchin) has trouble fitting in at a new high school. Charlie needs some friends fast, and decides that the best way to find them is to appoint himself the resident psychiatrist. He becomes one of the most popular guys in school by doling out advice and, occasionally, medication, to the student body.

Director
Jon Poll

Producer
Sidney Kimmel, David Permut, Baron Kidd, Jay Roach

Screenwriter
Gustin Nash

Distributor
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Production Co
Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, Permut Presentations

Rating
R (Drug Content|Brief Nudity|Language)

Genre
Comedy, Drama, Romance

Original Language
English

Release Date (Theaters)
Feb 22, 2008, Wide

Release Date (Streaming)
Aug 19, 2016

Box Office (Gross USA)
$4.0M

Runtime
1h 38m

Sound Mix
Dolby SRD, DTS, SDDS

Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.85:1)
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