Charlie Bartlett

I wasn't sure about this one. I had not heard much about it, but it seemed kind of interesting so I thought I would give it a shot. Turns out, I liked it quite a bit. There were some interesting relationships portrayed, between Charlie and his schoolmates, as school therapist/drug dealer (although in so kind a way it did not seem nefarious or dangerous at all, certainly a different kind of message); between Charlie and his Mom, almost incestuous in its adultness, though never actual physical. She seems to want him to be her husband. Between Charlie and the principal, between the principal's daughter and the principal. All seem to have some startling moments of realism. Turns out the principal was a good teacher and liked it better than being a principal. And was liked better as a teacher. Turns out Charlie doesn't have to be the hero of everything. It was the other guy who wrote the cool play and other people who starred in it. It was other people who led the protest over the cameras. Lots of good stuff here lots of different visions. One complaint I had was the omnipresent lack of realism in school settings in movies. I guess the romanticized/demonized visions that are most often presented are better for storytelling, but I wish someone would give us a vaguely realistic vision of school every now and then. Other than that, I liked this one quite a bit.