The Education Of Charlie Banks (2007/Anchor Bay DVD)

 

Picture: C     Sound: C+     Extras: C-     Film: C-

 

 

It is a shame to see good ideas and good acting go bad, but when it is as bad as the directing debut of Fred (Limp Bizkit) Durst’s The Education Of Charlie Banks (2007) it is a real shame.  You know you are in trouble when the title is a reference to the indie classic The Education Of Sonny Carson (1974, reviewed elsewhere on this site) and Lauryn Hill beat Durst to the intertextual idea years ago.  It could have worked and should have worked, but Durst has zero serious grasp of the material and the screenplay by Peter Elkoff is choppy and flat to say the least.

 

Jesse Eisenberg (who did much better recently in Adventureland) is the title character, who as a young child (played by a younger actor in the opening flashback) sees tough guy Mick beat up another kid, it signals a destiny of meeting each other and being acquainted that Charlie would be better off without.  In adult life, Mick (played by Jason Ritter, who along with his performance as a young Jeb Bush in Oliver Stone’s W. (also reviewed on the site) is proving to be a formidable actor) approaches him again at a party.  They vaguely know each other and Charlie knows he is trouble.

 

When Mick nearly kills two would-be tough guy varsity idiots, Charlie goes to the cops, then backs off.  Mick still spends three weeks in prison, then is released, with Charlie avoiding the neighborhood until college and that should be that.

 

However, Mick (who barely attended high school) suddenly visits Charlie and their mutual friend at college and Mick is as obnoxious as ever.  He cannot grow up and the secret is still there.  And of course, this sounds like everything we have seen and heard before, including the pseudo-suspense of whether Mick will beat or even kill Charlie for revenge.  Unfortunately, it is as weak as it is predictable and as the 101 minutes wind out, it just gets worse and worse and worse.

 

One thing is since Charlie and Mick only talked one night, there is no friendship after a one-night incident.  Then there is the problem of Mick not only hanging around so long, but then getting involved with the “idle rich” Charlie and company get involved with without question.  Worst of all is the void, empty handling of any sexual tensions or conflict whatsoever between the characters.  It is bad enough the male/female set-ups are unconvincing, but the (despite nudity) lack of sexual tensions between any battling males is inept at least and pathetic at worse.  All this and much more make this a disaster that at times is embarrassing.  Too bad.

 

Though the back of the DVD case identifies this as anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 and it was shot in Super 35mm film, the actual aspect ratio is 2.35 X 1 here and Director of Photography Alex Nepomniaschy, A.S.C., seems to have intended it as such.  Unfortunately, this is exceptionally soft throughout ands we doubt this is how it is supposed to look.  Durst said he picked him to lens the film because of Todd Haynes’s underrated Safe, but Durst seems to think such compositions equal intelligence and then dares to speak of Kubrick’s 2001 as if he actually understood the film.  They might, but without anything narrative to add including visually, leaning on your cinematographer is no way to hide your shortcomings as a director, especially when your previous filmmaking experience are Music Videos.

 

The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is dialogue-based, despite the addition in the surrounds of John Swihart’s problematic instrumental score and Durst’s remarkably awkward addition of hit records.  Extras include a Conversations Behind… interviews featurette and feature-length audio commentary by Durst and Ritter that has more than its share of awkward moments.

 

Durst moved on to direct the far simpler The Longshots, a much less ambitious project with Ice Cube (also reviewed on this site) with better results by default.  No matter how well intended, Durst just cannot direct and reminds me of McG with less experience; a very bad thing.  Unless Durst can find a way to open up personally and show himself, then put that on screen, he should stay away from the camera.  The only education you get from this film is how not to make a film and in content, you learn nothing except that good actors can still be good in a very bad film.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo