Charlie Bartlett may be labeled a “high school movie” for publicity’s sake, but the film, which opens Feb. 22, goes beyond high school to acknowledge the existence of a flawed world and wrestles with graver problems than detention and bad cafeteria food. This approach makes for a memorable R-rated film, set apart from many tamer, disposable teen flicks. Anton Yelchin is wonderful as the title character, a student who becomes his high school’s de facto psychologist and prescribes drugs to his troubled classmates, taking on problems well beyond his age. And, in a supporting role, Robert Downey, Jr. continues the strong work he has shown of late as an alcoholic father and the principal of Charlie’s high school.
On a recent promotional stop in Boston, director Jon Poll, a veteran film editor of comedies such as Meet the Parents and Scary Movie 3, sat down to share the experience of directing his first feature film.
Muse: How did directing Charlie Bartlett compare to the editing you’ve done in the past?
Jon Poll: Directing is a whole different thing and it’s so all consuming. It was a great experience; I was very lucky. I read a hundred scripts trying to find the movie I wanted to make. There were only two I really wanted to do, ironically, the other one was Juno. I went in and pitched and everybody liked my idea for where to take the script. I got the cast I wanted and I got the people to let me make the movie and, man, I couldn’t be a
luckier guy!
Muse: Anton Yelchin’s performance is terrific. How did you find him for the role of Charlie?
JP: I couldn’t have made the film without Anton. An acquaintance of mine said, “You should see this kid, Anton Yelchin. He was in House of D and Hearts in Atlantis.” I watched both of those movies and I was really excited. The next morning I drove over to [the film’s producer] Jay Roach’s office and he said, “Jon, I don’t have time for anything.” I said, “You have to stop and I’m going to show you a scene for five minutes.” It was great, it was a scene in House of D where it’s a really serious scene with a lot of humor in it and it showed everything I needed
in Charlie.
Muse: Prescription drugs play a big part in the film’s narrative. What were you trying to say about prescription pills in America?
JP: Well, I have very mixed feelings about it. We all know people who have benefited from these drugs. My problem is just the ease of prescribing the drugs and you do that and these drugs get out there. You’re in college, you know there’s a huge black market at every university in the world, or at least in America, for drugs that were not meant to be recreational. The drugs are kind of a great hook and provide us with a lot of humor, but ultimately [drugs] are not what the movie is really about.
Muse: What has it been like to follow your film from its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival to its wide release at the end of Feb.?
JP: Well so far it’s been great . . . The only two festivals I haven’t gone to we won the audience award, in Maui and in Tremblant (Canada). So we were very well-received, I mean it’s huge to be at a festival with 20 or 40 films and get the audience award. That means more to me than a Jury Award any day. As a filmmaker, it’s been great to see people respond to the film. People are happy to see something that isn’t talking down to them.