Reviews provided by RottenTomatoes
Christy Lemire, Associated Press: [Sitting through] Charlie Bartlett makes you feel as if you've just watched three episodes of a new TV series you can't wait to see more of -- one that's so funny and smart and unpredictable, it would probably only survive one season on the air. Read more
Tasha Robinson, Chicago Tribune: Charlie Bartlett asks audiences to believe that its protagonist is so sheltered that he has no clue how bizarre his precious, overly mannered behavior looks to his peers. Read more
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: The movie as a whole is a sweet pill to swallow. Read more
Scott Tobias, AV Club: Watching Charlie Bartlett only makes Wes Anderson's work seem more accomplished by comparison, because it underscores that thin line separating the agreeably fanciful from the overbearingly precious. Read more
Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: It overdoes the quirkiness and underdoes the character development, but, in the end, it's salvaged by a remarkable performance by Robert Downey Jr., who hardly ever gives any other kind. Read more
Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: An exuberant, unexpectedly smart comedy about the fraught give-and-take between kids and grown-ups. Read more
Carina Chocano, Los Angeles Times: [Director] Poll never picks a tone to stick with, so the movie is neither quite naturalistic nor stylized enough, and Charlie's character vacillates between charming-soulful and creepy-weird. Read more
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader: A rebellious teen comedy that isn't as good or as radical as Pump Up the Volume, but still feels like a shot in the arm and is full of irreverent energy. Read more
Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: Yelchin gives Charlie a fresh-faced naivete that raises the question: Is he a do-gooder or a villain? And do you care? Read more
Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: It's risky business championing an adolescent protagonist who thrives on the illicit. But the appointments Charlie holds in the men's room make an argument most can get behind. Read more
Tom Long, Detroit News: Charlie Bartlett may not be a great movie, but it does serve as a splendid introduction to a supremely promising talent. Read more
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: Appropriating many of the rebel responsibilities of Ferris Bueller and Rushmore's Max Fischer but little of their fresh charms, the title teen iconoclast of this antic yet bland comedy is showily updated for our psychotropic age. Read more
John Monaghan, Detroit Free Press: Tone is everything in a movie like this, and director John Poll spends the entire running time trying to find it. Read more
Amy Nicholson, I.E. Weekly: It feels like a teen movie hijacked by guidance counselors -- an after-school special in wolf's clothing. Read more
Ella Taylor, L.A. Weekly: Like its anodyne hero, Charlie Bartlett wants to make mischief, but it wants even more to get a gold star. Read more
Jan Stuart, Newsday: This high school dramedy feels strangely earthbound, despite an articulate script and an engaging cast. Read more
Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: A comedy that strains so hard to be edgy it nearly pulls a muscle. Read more
Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: Read more
Lou Lumenick, New York Post: Charlie Bartlett starts to get a bit preachy as it works its way toward a climax heavily influenced by Rushmore, but it's still well above average for this type of film. Read more
Rex Reed, New York Observer: I salute the inventiveness, imagination and cockeyed teenage humor in a delightful new movie called Charlie Bartlett. It picks up where Juno left off. Read more
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: Imagine an R-rated Ferris Bueller with only the most annoying parts of the younger Matthew Broderick's screen persona emphasized and you'll draw a bead on Bartlett. Read more
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: There's lots to like. Read more
James Berardinelli, ReelViews: I would classify Charlie Bartlett as a smart teen film. It's more ambitious and overall more successful than its '80s forebears even though the resemblance is unmistakable. Read more
Jim Emerson, Chicago Sun-Times: Almost everything in Charlie Bartlett is based on successful teen comedy formulas of the '70s, '80s and '90s. Read more
David Wiegand, San Francisco Chronicle: Those waiting for the arrival of the next Juno may want to skip Charlie Bartlett, a relentlessly earnest teen film about a 17-year-old misfit who's been tossed out of one prep school after another for bad behavior. Read more
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: The film feels like an old person's notion of how young people live. Read more
Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: Like the teenagers in it, Charlie Bartlett is a movie in search of an identity, wondering just what sort of high-school flick it wants to be when it grows up. Read more
Philip Marchand, Toronto Star: The characters remain halfway between genuine comic creations and realistic individuals, and the whole narrative feels artificial, stuck in the tension between being a morality play and a freewheeling comedy. Read more
Claudia Puig, USA Today: Charlie Bartlett is a refreshingly entertaining character study that refuses to dumb down its youthful cast or bury their concerns in service of a catchy soundtrack. Read more
Ronnie Scheib, Variety: Rollicking story of a rich kid whose wildly successful bid for popularity has him playing drug-distributing shrink to an entire high school boasts pitch-perfect faceoffs between Anton Yelchin and Robert Downey Jr. could fuel a chemistry lab. Read more
Desson Thomson, Washington Post: Not surprisingly we learn that parents need to listen more often to what their kids are saying. What Charlie really needs is a scriptwriter who's forceful and creative enough to break new ground. Read more