Charlie Bartlett

In this high school comedy, title character Charlie Bartlett (Anton Yelchin, soon to be seen as Chekov in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek) is a privileged teen that has been kicked out of every private school he has ever enrolled in. His first sojourn into the world of public schooling is a similar failure, until he finds his social niche as an amateur psychiatrist for the student body, dishing out both advice and prescriptions.

Hot on his tail is the high school’s jaded principal (Robert Downey Jr), whose daughter and fellow student Susan (Kat Dennings) Charlie has recently fallen for - a situation that threatens his clandestine operations. It is director Jon Poll’s debut venture, but he has the comic pedigree of editing successful outings of the genre such as Meet the Parents and Austin Powers.

Promising not to talk down to teenagers, the youth-centric script was written by first-timer Gustin Nash whilst he was working in a photography store. He says “The film isn’t really pro psychiatric drugs or anti psychiatric drugs. It’s really about a kid who starts off selling these drugs to gain popularity but comes to realize he can help kids talk about their problems through methods other than drugs.” More