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Prime Video is home to a huge library of movie masterpieces — beloved films that achieved universal acclaim.
But the platform also hosts tons of movies that never quite made it big — and the Watch With Us team likes to make sure they get their flowers.
This week, we’re shouting out Charlie Bartlett, an underrated teen dramedy from 2008 that recently became available on the platform.
If you’re looking for a heartfelt, clever movie with a great cast, don’t miss this hidden gem on Prime Video — here’s why we love it.
The Premise Is Clever and Nuanced
Charlie Bartlett sort of feels like a predecessor to the Netflix series Sex Education — just like the popular show, the film follows an awkward but bright teenager who becomes an amateur therapist for his classmates, learning about himself and making connections with his fellow students.
Unlike Otis in Sex Education, however, Charlie Bartlett (Anton Yelchin) provides an additional service to his peers — he visits different psychiatrists and feigns the symptoms that are plaguing them in order to get prescriptions, which he then distributes among the high schoolers.
As you might imagine, this comes with many complications. Charlie Bartlett explores Charlie’s own mental health issues, especially his complicated relationship with his father, who is incarcerated. The film leans into the complexities of teen emotions, never simplifying or minimizing them.
Watching the Cast Feels Poignant in 2025
As you may recall, Russian-American actor Anton Yelchin was a star on the rise with roles in films like Star Trek, when a car accident tragically cut his life short. Seeing his charming performance in Charlie Bartlett, which was one of his breakout roles, has an added emotional impact in the aftermath of his death.
One of the other main cast members is Robert Downey Jr., who plays the alcoholic principal of Charlie’s high school. Downey also has a poignant connection to the material — he famously struggled with drug and alcohol addiction as a teenager and young adult. Downey was still in the process of relaunching his career at the time of the film after getting sober in 2001. Charlie Bartlett came out only a year before Iron Man, which would change Downey’s trajectory forever.
Knowing where both talented actors ended up makes their on-screen pairing in this film about mental health and second chances feel especially bittersweet.
The talented cast of Charlie Bartlett also features Kat Dennings and Hope Davis.
It’s an Early Aughts Homage to Teen Movies of the ’80s
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With its themes of mental health, teen angst and complex parent-child relationships, Charlie Bartlett feels like an homage to John Hughes movies like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off or The Breakfast Club. Yelchin definitely resembles a young Matthew Broderick, from his preppy, handsome look to his quippy charm. Other ’80s films get their moments too — there’s a scene where Charlie hams it up in a blazer and boxers that feels reminiscent of the iconic “Old Time Rock and Roll” scene in Risky Business, plus direct references to Harold and Maude.
If you love those films but haven’t seen Charlie Bartlett, you’re missing out on a loving tribute that captures that same combination of whimsy and pathos.
English (US) ·