2007 · Movie
Charlie Bartlett
From a wealthy family, Charlie Bartlett is a bright and privileged seventeen year old high schooler who has a recurring fantasy of being famous and idolized just for being who he is. He has been expelled from private school after private school for using his smarts in nefarious but still largely harmless ways. Part of his attitude issue may be attributed to his father no longer being a presence in his life. As throwing money at the issue will no longer fix the problem, Charlie's supportive mother Marilyn Bartlett, whose mellow attitude is largely medication induced, has no other option but to send Charlie to a public school, Western Summit High. Charlie's routine of wearing a blazer and carrying an attaché case do not fit in with public school life, he largely shunned or bullied, the latter primarily by the school's head thug, Murphy Bivens, with Charlie being only Murphy's latest target. Using his smarts, Charlie is eventually able to become the toast of the student body by pushing the right buttons first with Murphy, then with the majority of the student body based largely on an encounter with another student Kip Crombwell, who is chronically depressed and prone to panic attacks. However, the one person at the school who could always see through Charlie's veneer to the smart and clever person he is is Susan Gardner, who happens to be the daughter of the school's disliked principal, Nathan Gardner. That dislike of Mr. Gardner by the students is a Catch-22 situation as he gets more restrictive the more out of hand the students seem to get in his mind. Mr. Gardner has and is still facing his own demons in the process. Charlie's relationship with Susan may bring him to a standoff with her father, with movement on either side possibly based on if Charlie and/or Mr. Gardner can come to a true understanding of their own issues.
