“Charlie Bartlett” Directed by Jon Poll Starring: Anton Yelchin, Robert Downey Jr., Hope Davis, Kat Dennings

out of

Like hundreds of movies before it, director Jon Poll’s “Charlie Bartlett” is a comedy about surviving the exhausting trials of high school.

But “Charlie” puts a darker comedic spin on the cliched high school experience, focusing on the effects of dysfunctional parents’ lives trickling into the lives of their teenage sons and daughters.

The movie’s angsty teenagers turn to new kid Charlie Bartlett (Anton Yelchin), who serves as the unofficial school psychiatrist, prescribing and providing prescription drugs to his fellow students from his office in the boys’ restroom.

The plot begins when the rich-kid Bartlett steps into public school after getting expelled from countless private academies and boarding schools for similar illegal business endeavors.

Though he’s initially mocked for his suit jackets and briefcase, Bartlett manages to win over the student population with his quirky personality and eagerness to fit in.

He finds a business partner in school bully Murphey Bivens (Tyler Hilton), who helps with the drugs as well as a DVD industry Bartlett sets up.

Though Bartlett’s undertakings often leave him in the principal’s office – or, on one occasion, in the back of a cop car – somehow his antics also help the students more than their parents or teachers can.

The characters in “Charlie Bartlett” are well developed and quirky enough to carry the movie. Excellent writing supplies Bartlett with clever lines like, “Bringing psychiatric drugs and teenagers together is like opening a lemonade stand in the desert,” and it combines with quality acting to make “Charlie Bartlett” more than just another teen movie.

Bartlett’s character is impossible to dislike. Throughout the movie he rarely falters in doing what he believes is best for other people, and he keeps the audience entertained with odd behaviors and personality quirks.

He is bright, funny and incredibly sweet and caring – particularly in the way he helps his classmates deal with their problems when he hasn’t even come to terms with his own dysfunctional family.

Bartlett’s only flaw is that he’s just too good and therefore hardly believable.

His mom (Hope Davis) is another well acted, darkly comedic character. She’s the flaky, over-medicated princess whose spacey nature is accompanied by an utter lack of parenting skills.

Her sad and lonely lifestyle is subtly expressed by her reliance on her son and her butler to supply her with a sense of purpose.

The complicated but loving mother-son relationship plays a key role in Bartlett coming to terms with his family.

Robert Downey Jr. gives a quality performance as Mr. Gardner, the school’s principal.

His complex character simultaneously fights alcoholism, a despicable superintendent and a school full of teenagers, all the while struggling to maintain a relationship with his daughter Susan (Kat Dennings), who finds romance with the troublemaker, Bartlett.

Gardner’s relationship with Bartlett fluctuates as the principal goes back and forth between the roles of open-minded disciplinarian and protective father.

Downey portrays Principal Gardner perfectly as a desperate, depressed but ultimately good-hearted character.

Intriguing characters and a creative screenplay make “Charlie Bartlett” a combination of drama, humor and romance that will keep audiences invested in the story.