Digital_Phreaker

8/10

Spoilers

The movie that introduced me to Anton Yelchin. I'd actually already seen Alpha Dog before this, but Yelchin was so likeable as the titular character -- a sheltered rich kid whose family is so wealthy and strange that he has trouble making friends -- that I forgot I'd already seen him in other things before this. We also get RDJ in his pre-Iron Man return to glory as an alcoholic father and principal of Charlie's new public high school. Charlie's just such a genuine dude who has absolutely no idea how to navigate the social norms of any high school, let alone a public one. That monologue from "Misadventures of a Teenage Renegade" is immediately what sold me on this movie after the trailers were enough to get me to drive to the one indie movie theater that was playing it in my area, about 30 miles from where I was living at the time. The extra oomph that Yelchin added to "hooch" still cracks me up over 17 years later! Even the lowest dosage of Ritalin if you don't have ADD/ADHD will get you fucking ***wrecked!*** First time I took one after my friend recommended it and gave me one of his, holy shit! I'd never been *that* stimulated in my life, hence why that class of drug is refereed to as stimulants, and from what I saw of friends in high school and college who got hooked on that shit as a study "helper", Charlie's multi-day saga of his body reacting to the unnecessary methylphenidate definitely seems like the kind of breakdown someone would have who doesn't need it; works wonders for those who do need it, but even a low dosage is like actual methamphetamine for someone who doesn't need it. And charlie absolutely does not need three doses of 10 mg a day, especially when he reaches that "pop another one" stage! The security camera company being called InvisiCam despite their cameras being the most obvious security cameras to ever security camera is fucking hilarious! Oh, shit, I totally forgot Drake was in this movie; I knew he got his acting start in a Degrassi spin-off, so it probably wasn't that much of a stretch to hire a famous aspiring hip-hop artist, but knowing about his personal proclivities makes it a little icky knowing that he was around so many younger actors/actresses. Charlie turning Murph's greatest "hits" compilations into a high school version of Bum Fights to get Murphy's victims some money is so darkly hilarious. I just now realized that Kat Dennings was in her early 20s when this was released, but here she was still believably playing a high school-aged student. "So who takes care of you?" Fuck, that line hits even harder now than it did in early 2008; being the last remaining child trying to take care of a self-destructive parent fucking ***sucks!*** My late father was a lot like RDJ's character in this: a raging alcoholic who was never able to get a grip on it. It finally killed him three months ago yesterday, and it took me about six weeks to fully adjust to the fact that he was gone and that I didn't need to keep worrying about finding him dead one morning after that's exactly what happened in December. To my older siblings' credits, they did their best to offer as much moral support to me as they could, but they're all married parents with a fucking *grip* of kids individually, so they kinda had their own problems to handle throughout that whole ordeal as he didn't pick up drinking until his early 60s and they were all already married with children by then.

CinemaSerf

0/10

“Charlie” (Anton Yelchin) is the neglected rich kid who’s been thrown out of school so often that his mum (Hope Davis) resorts to him going to an ordinary school. Arriving in their stretched (and rather classy looking) old Mercedes bedecked in blazer and attaché case, he is quickly the plaything of school hard case “Bivens” (Tyler Hilton) only to be rescued by the principal “Gardner” (Robert Downey Jr.). Now spoilt he may be, but “Charlie” is no fool and after a few sessions with his own shrink, and the appreciation of just how empowering a little medication can be, he does a deal with his nemesis to go into business offering counselling services to his fellow pupils. One thing leads to another and his increasing awareness of their problems is used vicariously with his own doctor to procure not just medication but also treatments! Before we know it, he’s flavour of the month and even “Susan” (Kat Dennings) whose dad runs the place is becoming fond of him. Perhaps, though, he bites off a little more than he can chew when he starts to chat with the depressive “Kip” (Mark Rendall) and that leads to dangerous territory for all leaving “Charlie” having to rethink his priorities. Perhaps a new scheme might give him, and his schoolmates, a less toxic purpose? Yelchin just oozes charisma here as someone whom we ought to dislike becomes someone we actually quite like. Sure, he’s got no dad; his mum hasn’t really a clue and money is no object for him so we expect him to be a bit of a pratt, but you always feel that he just needs a stronger hand on his tiller - and who better than Downey Jr. whose character is not without some baggage of it’s own. The script is really quite fun at times and even when the romantic genes do kick in, it still manages to stay on the right side of sentimental as the engaging Yelchin delivers a characterfully mischievous performance that has just a little bit of the home truths to it, too. It’s tough to radically reinvent these teenage angsty style dramas, but this one emphasises more the characters and provides us with a decent story with less reliance on a soundtrack of AOR or power ballads. Downey Jr. does enough, and the others gel well to create something readily watchable and indicting of the whole pill-popping culture.