The Education of Charlie Banks
Rated R
(pervasive language, some violence, sexual content, and drug and alcohol use)
1 hour 40 minutes
Storyline:
College student Charlie Banks has to face old problems when the bully he had an unpleasant encounter with back in high school shows up on his campus.
Starring:
Jesse Eisenberg
Jason Ritter
Eva Amurri
Chris Marquette
Critics Grade:
D
My Grade:
C
This is a movie that clearly not a whole lot of people have even heard of. It's been out since around the beginning of 2009 and has less then 1000 voted on IMDB. It only has a total of 26 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes...which is really low. This movie was never really "out there" for people to see. But now it is available on DVD, and I saw it on Netflix and it caught my eye. The movie is basically about a quiet, kind of nerdy kid named Charlie who has come face to face once again with a childhood/high school bully that he has always been deeply afraid of. Charlie one ratted this bully out to the cops only to recant but the bully never knew that. Now Charlie is just trying to get through college and also trying to become more than friends with a fellow female student.
This movie has "independent" written all over it. Did you know this was the directorial debut of musician Fred Durst? I kid you not! Honestly I never would have guessed he could ever direct a film and if he did I would have imagined it would have been pretty bad. However my thoughts would have been wrong. I think he did quite a good job for his debut. I didn't think that was a great film and it is ultimately forgettable, but all things considered, Durst did a fairly good job capturing the realism of college and all the potential problems that could arise amongst college aged people.
That being said, this movie has a pretty big flaw in my eyes: it is very dull. The writing especially, falls very flat and for the most part is incredibly one dimensional. Yeah yeah yeah, I'm not a screenwriter and I have no idea how hard it is to write a screenplay. I know all that. But that doesn't mean a person who watches enough movies can tell when a screenplay doesn't pop. It didn't pop for me. Nothing stood out as being powerful or magnificent. It isn't poorly written by any means, there are some well written scenes, but in the end nothing really inspiring comes out of this tale. I don't know how else to critique it other than it just doesn't have any "oomph".
The film does have some good performances. Mainly from Jason Ritter (Freddy Vs. Jason) who plays the bully with some pretty good depth. His performance is so authentic I thought. He shows us the deeply mean and troubled side to a bully but also the side of him that wants to be good and to be redeemed. You feel bad for him. I also liked Chris Marquette (Alpha Dog, The Invisible) who plays the friend torn between the good (Charlie) and the bad (the bully) who is friends with both. He's been a bit actor for probably all of his career, but I thought he was solid this time out. Jesse Eisenberg (Adventureland, Zombieland) actually annoyed me in this movie. I can't exactly put my finger on it...but his performance was just annoying as all hell. I couldn't stand him and he was the main character! He had this high pitched naisley voice when he was angry, and at other times he was to quiet and his voice "fidgeted" to much. It just bothered me, it was a distraction.
Overall this is a fairly good movie with some good direction by Fred Durst but it fails to have a captivating storyline that packs a very weak punch. Some good performances and some OK ones. Overall just a good but forgettable film. That's all I can really say.
This movie has "independent" written all over it. Did you know this was the directorial debut of musician Fred Durst? I kid you not! Honestly I never would have guessed he could ever direct a film and if he did I would have imagined it would have been pretty bad. However my thoughts would have been wrong. I think he did quite a good job for his debut. I didn't think that was a great film and it is ultimately forgettable, but all things considered, Durst did a fairly good job capturing the realism of college and all the potential problems that could arise amongst college aged people.
That being said, this movie has a pretty big flaw in my eyes: it is very dull. The writing especially, falls very flat and for the most part is incredibly one dimensional. Yeah yeah yeah, I'm not a screenwriter and I have no idea how hard it is to write a screenplay. I know all that. But that doesn't mean a person who watches enough movies can tell when a screenplay doesn't pop. It didn't pop for me. Nothing stood out as being powerful or magnificent. It isn't poorly written by any means, there are some well written scenes, but in the end nothing really inspiring comes out of this tale. I don't know how else to critique it other than it just doesn't have any "oomph".
The film does have some good performances. Mainly from Jason Ritter (Freddy Vs. Jason) who plays the bully with some pretty good depth. His performance is so authentic I thought. He shows us the deeply mean and troubled side to a bully but also the side of him that wants to be good and to be redeemed. You feel bad for him. I also liked Chris Marquette (Alpha Dog, The Invisible) who plays the friend torn between the good (Charlie) and the bad (the bully) who is friends with both. He's been a bit actor for probably all of his career, but I thought he was solid this time out. Jesse Eisenberg (Adventureland, Zombieland) actually annoyed me in this movie. I can't exactly put my finger on it...but his performance was just annoying as all hell. I couldn't stand him and he was the main character! He had this high pitched naisley voice when he was angry, and at other times he was to quiet and his voice "fidgeted" to much. It just bothered me, it was a distraction.
Overall this is a fairly good movie with some good direction by Fred Durst but it fails to have a captivating storyline that packs a very weak punch. Some good performances and some OK ones. Overall just a good but forgettable film. That's all I can really say.
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