Almost everything in Charlie Bartlett is based on successful teen comedy formulas of the '70s, '80s and '90s. full review

Tone is everything in a movie like this, and director John Poll spends the entire running time trying to find it. full review

The movie as a whole is a sweet pill to swallow. full review

Charlie Bartlett is a refreshingly entertaining character study that refuses to dumb down its youthful cast or bury their concerns in service of a catchy soundtrack. full review

The characters remain halfway between genuine comic creations and realistic individuals, and the whole narrative feels artificial, stuck in the tension between being a morality play and a freewheeling comedy. full review

Those waiting for the arrival of the next Juno may want to skip Charlie Bartlett, a relentlessly earnest teen film about a 17-year-old misfit who's been tossed out of one prep school after another for bad behavior. full review

Imagine an R-rated Ferris Bueller with only the most annoying parts of the younger Matthew Broderick's screen persona emphasized and you'll draw a bead on Bartlett. full review

A comedy that strains so hard to be edgy it nearly pulls a muscle. full review

Two decades after Ferris Bueller, a new smarty-pants seeks popularity in Charlie Bartlett.

Charlie Bartlett starts to get a bit preachy as it works its way toward a climax heavily influenced by Rushmore, but it's still well above average for this type of film. full review

Charlie Bartlett may not be a great movie, but it does serve as a splendid introduction to a supremely promising talent. full review

Yelchin gives Charlie a fresh-faced naivete that raises the question: Is he a do-gooder or a villain? And do you care? full review

A rebellious teen comedy that isn't as good or as radical as Pump Up the Volume, but still feels like a shot in the arm and is full of irreverent energy. full review

An exuberant, unexpectedly smart comedy about the fraught give-and-take between kids and grown-ups. full review

The film feels like an old person's notion of how young people live. full review

[Director] Poll never picks a tone to stick with, so the movie is neither quite naturalistic nor stylized enough, and Charlie's character vacillates between charming-soulful and creepy-weird. full review

Like the teenagers in it, Charlie Bartlett is a movie in search of an identity, wondering just what sort of high-school flick it wants to be when it grows up. full review

It's risky business championing an adolescent protagonist who thrives on the illicit. But the appointments Charlie holds in the men's room make an argument most can get behind. full review