High school sucked... period. If that sentence doesn’t ring true with you, then stop reading right now; Charlie Bartlett isn’t the film for you. No matter how much your parents and teachers tried to get you to focus on learning, growing and discovering your true self, it was incredibly tough to endure the daily social terrorism teens inflict on one another. For some, it was probably next to impossible to fixate on anything other than being accepted by your peers. Charlie Bartlett (Anton Yelchin), the title character, is no different from any of us in that respect. Wise beyond his years, at least he’s keenly aware of that fact. Early in the film, his flighty mother Marilyn (Hope Davis) - in an attempt to say what she thinks a mother should - insists, "There’s more to high school than being well liked." But when Charlie pinpoints her for specific examples, she pauses and sheepishly replies, "Nothing comes to mind."

As the movie gets going, Charlie is in the throws of his "umpteenth" stint in yet another expensive, private school and he's about to be expelled - this time, for manufacturing fake ID’s. In a rare moment of parental strength, Marilyn decides to send him to public school for the first time. As with many teen comedies, Charlie Bartlett begins as a fish-out-of-water tale. But, to his credit, Charlie is unusually astute for someone his age and he's a master at listening. Courtesy of his mother, Charlie has seemingly unlimited access to professional psychiatrists and their prescriptions. So he discovers his key to popularity when he sets up shop in the boys’ washroom as the resident psychiatrist/pharmacologist. If only life in high school was that easy, right?

On his way to becoming king of the school, Charlie meets and falls for Susan (Kat Dennings, of The 40 Year Old Virgin fame), the only girl around who’s more intrigued by his peculiarities than repelled by them. But matters get complicated when Charlie learns her father is the school principal (Robert Downey Jr.), a recovering alcoholic and single parent, who’s determined not to lose control of his daughter to Charlie, as he has with his student body.

Throughout the film, Yelchin is quite charming. The movie occasionally leans on clichés but it manages to skate by on his quirky and comedic appeal. It's a safe bet to say that we can expect to see a lot more from the eighteen year-old in the future, especially since he'll soon be known as the young Chekov in the upcoming Star Trek reboot. For my money, the most intriguing characters in Charlie Bartlett are supporting players Principal Gardner and his daughter as their relationship develops. Thankfully, they’re given more than one scene together to off-set Yelchin's charm. Both Downey and Dennings have a deadpan delivery that simultaneously adds substance and well-earned humor to the movie. Also, Charlie Bartlett does a nice job of raising several complex questions surrounding the modern methods of child psychology. When does a level of heightened awareness of possible problems lead to over diagnosis? When do attempts to "normalize" our children threaten to deplete their unique qualities? Can the use of medication be avoided by simply listening and being attentive to a child's needs?

Despite the fact that the film's heart is in the right place, the events and bit players within Charlie Bartlett are all too familiar. Both in life and film, they've been seen and done before. Take Charlie’s stereotypical classmates for example - the cheerleader, the bully, the jock, the artist, etc - a number of the high school sequences are so cliched that they feel like genre stock footage. While the movie deserves credit for approaching high school isolation with a certain sensitivity, I squirmed in my seat during a heavy-handed sequence that seemed to suggest a Columbine-esque situation had been narrowly avoided after Charlie befriends a suicidal schoolmate - one who wears black nail polish, plays violent video games and listens to Marilyn Manson.

Charlie Bartlett is respectable for the social questions it casts, but they don't seem to be its main concern. At heart, it’s another teen comedy centers on the notion that being true to oneself eventually trumps conformity. In some ways, it feels as though Charlie Bartlett is trying to position itself as this generation’s Ferris Bueller's Day Off; Matthew Broderick’s ghost looms heavily over Yelchin’s portrayal of the title character. And though it’s tough for me to locate the same fuzzy feelings I got from Ferris twenty years ago, perhaps for a younger moviegoer it won’t be.