Charlie Bartlett is a funny, poignant, and depressing movie, but I did enjoy all of it. Anton Yelchin is surrounded by a rather strong cast, including Hope Davis as his mother, Marilyn, and Robert Downey, Jr. as Principal Nathan Gardner, who is also father of Bartlett's girlfriend, Susan (Kat Denning). Bartlett works through, grows through even, the absence of his father, the alcoholism of his mother and the trouble of his repetitive removal from various high schools.

When your mother leaves you a note that says, "Ritalin's in the bag, dinner in the oven," your interaction with her might stand for some intervention. Unfortunately, when she (and every other adult role model you have) is an alcoholic, it's up to you to learn some things on your own. Along the way, Charlie recruits a mentally challenged peer to be his muscle and partners with the local drug dealer to medicate his classmates, while balancing love and loss on his thin high school shoulders.

Charlie becomes the high school psychiatrist, but when a "patient" overdoses, he must reevaluate his life, forcibly, with the help of Principal Gardner. Their banter and exploration includes zingers like "Popularity is pretty damn important in high school," and deep insight, like "What you do with your popularity matters. What you do in this life matters." It's ironic to see Downey as an alcoholic giving advice to someone half his age, but the two characters seem to grow together.

Throughout the movie, we see the development of the relationship between Charlie and Kat, the breakdown in the relationship between parents and children, and the interesting sidebar about privacy in the student center for high school students. Who gets to make decisions and how they're enforced bears keeping in mind, as the movie rolls (slowly) toward its climax. Charlie proves to be bolder than he believes he is, more of a leader than he's given credit for, and more insightful than many would think a teenager could be. But he's still not an adult, and he still can't do it on his own!

What the movie boils down to is a case where the teenager takes on the responsibilities of the adult and shows the adults how they're botching adulthood and parenthood. Along the way, there are giggles and pointers for growth but this movie may amuse you and depress you at the same time. It's certainly clever, but the disconcerting feeling you have when you recognize that this could in fact be a documentary may linger with you after the laughter is gone.