I’ve watched this like 5 times now, I don’t know why I love it so much, I just do

Every time I see Anton Yelchin in something my heart sinks. He knew how to play a teenager like no one else, with that mix of vulnerability and boldness that's hard to achieve without being insufferable. Charlie Bartlett is one of those movies that went completely unnoticed and I don't really understand why. A rich kid who's been bouncing from private schools ends up in a public high school where, obviously, he doesn't fit in. But instead of taking the easy path of the rich-kid-who-learns-to-be-humble, the movie does something more interesting. Charlie discovers that what he's best at is listening to people. What makes it special is that it doesn't stay in comedy territory. There are genuinely dark moments [SPOILER] the principal's relationship with alcohol, the suicide attempt of one of the kids [/SPOILER] that give weight to everything. Robert Downey Jr. plays the principal-father-of-the-girl-Charlie-likes and he's fantastic, with that thing of a broken guy trying to keep it together that he'd later perfect in other roles.

Came across this movie because of Robert Downey Jr. But it's truly very special while being very simple and hits all the right emotional moments without being overbearing.

This had potential to be much better than it was. On the one hand, Yelchin was a great actor (RIP) but on the other hand, this movie proved to be a rather successful waste of time with random 'look I did a thing!' moments at every turn. I get it, you want to make other people's lives better, you don't have to try to shove it down the viewers throat every 5 minutes.