The Education of Charlie Banks (2007)

46% of critics liked it
(28 reviews)
47% of users liked it
(8,171 ratings)

A young man is faced with a dilemma when a threatening figure from his past returns in this drama, the directorial debut from Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst. Charlie Banks (Jesse Eisenberg) and his best friend, Danny (Chris Marquette), grew up in a rough section of New York, where they both knew… More A young man is faced with a dilemma when a threatening figure from his past returns in this drama, the directorial debut from Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst. Charlie Banks (Jesse Eisenberg) and his best friend, Danny (Chris Marquette), grew up in a rough section of New York, where they both knew Mick (Jason Ritter), a kid whose was much admired for his cool and equally feared for his talent for violence. When Mick got into a fight that left two teens nearly dead, Charlie was a witness, and when he was approached by the police, Charlie told them what he saw, though he later refused to testify against Mick in court for fear of his own safety. Several years later, Charlie and Danny have left the old neighborhood behind and are students at a prestigious private university when Mick pays them an unexpected visit. Charlie has no idea if Mick knows that he informed on him to the police, and is afraid to find out, but in the meantime, Mick aggressively reintroduces himself into Charlie and Danny's lives. As Mick starts dressing like a wealthy college boy, reading F. Scott Fitzgerald, and dating a girl Charlie has a crush on, he seems to be transforming himself into someone who can be all Charlie is and more, but in time Mick learns he can't completely turn his back on his past. The Education of Charlie Banks had its world premiere at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 40 min.
Directed By: Fred Durst
Written By: Peter Elkoff
Genres: Art House & International, Drama

In Theaters: Mar 27, 2009 Wide
On DVD: Jun 30, 2009
Studio: Anchor Bay

Critic Reviews

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail
One of those voice-over memory stories about a college student coming to terms with the bully who haunted his childhood.
Greg Quill, Toronto Star
An earnest, if romanticized, examination of the American class system in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and the eternally confounding politics of acceptance and exclusion.
Michael Rechtshaffen, Hollywood Reporter
Travels in some unexpected, thoughtful directions.
Ben Mankiewicz, At the Movies
There are some things to like about The Education of Charlie Banks, but also plenty that detracts from what could be an interesting story.
Ben Lyons, At the Movies
You take one scene that doesn't quite get there followed by another scene that doesn't quite get there, all of a sudden you've got a movie that doesn't quite get there.
Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times
Too often Durst's direction is overly earnest, heavy in long takes, atmosphere wise but scene foolish.
Sarah Sluis, Film Journal International
The story of a street kid hiding out in a preppy college never leaves familiar ground.
Kam Williams, NewsBlaze
If you're at all intrigued by the idea of exploring angst and anomie among the entitled upper crust, then this Ivy League variation on Fight Club just might satiate an effete brand of bloodlust.
Brian Orndorf, DVDTalk.com
Would've made a swell student film for Durst, a safe haven for the rocker to work out his film school inclinations. As a feature-length requiem for the disturbed soul, this picture is woefully ineffective.
Chris Cabin, Filmcritic.com
perceptive and gripping
Liz Braun, Jam! Movies
It's just a shame the story wasn't handled as a simple memoir, rather than some sort of cautionary tale.
Matthew Nestel, Boxoffice Magazine
The cast is superb in their performances.
Jurgen Fauth, About.com
A surprisingly amiable coming-of-age tale that is especially remarkable for its honesty about class.
Scott Mendelson, Film Threat
A film that succeeds at being good without really succeeding in being worthwhile.
Pete Hammond, Hollywood.com
Unnerving and uneven college drama is well-acted but doesn't seem to know what it's trying to say.
Dave White, Movies.com
You will spend this film's entire 100+ minutes waiting for the inevitable moment of reckoning between Charlie and the young thug he fears the most.
Amy Nicholson, I.E. Weekly
The film's potential cynicism is suffocated with a TV movie flatness, occasionally--and egregiously--spackled with sentimental music that makes it sag when it should slice.

Read all 17 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

♥˩ƳИИ &

Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Eva Amurri, Sam Daly, Alex Guarino, Jason Ritter, Charles Parnell, Chris Marquette, Gabby Sherba, Sebastian Stan Director: Fred Durst Summary:Years after Charlie (Jesse Eisenberg) fingers Mick (Jason Ritter) for a brutal assault, Mick shows up at… More
Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Eva Amurri, Sam Daly, Alex Guarino, Jason Ritter, Charles Parnell, Chris Marquette, Gabby Sherba, Sebastian Stan Director: Fred Durst Summary:Years after Charlie (Jesse Eisenberg) fingers Mick (Jason Ritter) for a brutal assault, Mick shows up at Charlie's university and insinuates himself into college life, auditing classes, sleeping with Charlie's dream girl and pondering how his life might have been different. All the while, Charlie anxiously wonders whether Mick knows he ratted him out. My Thoughts: "It was a really great story. But more shocking it was directed by lead singer from Limp Bizkit, Fred Durst. I was a little hesitant on watching it on that fact alone, and yet curious to see his work. The movie is set in the seventies in New York and then later on in the eighties. It's about a kid named Charlie Banks who at a high school party witnessed a horrific fight between Mickey Leary and two other students. Mickey brutally beats the two jocks and puts them in the hospital in critical condition. Charlie then turns Micky into the police telling no one but his parents, but then later backs out on his statements he made to the police. Three years later, during his freshman year in college, Mick shows up for a visit (he is friends with Charlies best friend). Charlie is terrified to see him in his dorm room. Mick's visit drags out over several weeks. You can literally feel the tension through the screen when these two characters are in the same room. Mick and Charlie are nice to each other one moment and threatening in another. Charlie later reads in a news paper about a brawl that happened at a bar that ended up with one dead. Charlie is convinced that Mick is the killer. Its a very intense movie. Funny in some moments but very few. Jason Ritter and Jesse Eisenberg give fantastic performances. I was really surprised with this movie and really surprised by the director. Happy my curiosity got the best of me."
Richard C

This suprised me by how good it was. This is a slow paced movie that some will find boring but i really liked it. A great movie. Grade: B+
Cynthia S

Here is yet another one of those really good movies that most people have never heard of, including me. I have to say that I think alot of Independent films are much better that the so called big budget films. I was never once bored during this movie. A very well done film, with a… More
Here is yet another one of those really good movies that most people have never heard of, including me. I have to say that I think alot of Independent films are much better that the so called big budget films. I was never once bored during this movie. A very well done film, with a talented cast.
Alice S

I wasn't enamored by this film, not even terribly impressed by Jesse Eisenberg. It's all very predictable. What do you expect when a volatile on-the-run criminal tries to play Mr. Ripley?
Leigh R

Very intense. You can feel this tension between the two leads that cuts into your bones. Nicely done performances.
Nani V

I was excited to watch this then I was a bit disappointed. It's about a young man name Charlie Banks (Jesse Eisenberg), who witnesses a fight while he was in high school. Years go by and he's in college when out of nowhere the bully he saw hurt those two boys returns into… More
I was excited to watch this then I was a bit disappointed. It's about a young man name Charlie Banks (Jesse Eisenberg), who witnesses a fight while he was in high school. Years go by and he's in college when out of nowhere the bully he saw hurt those two boys returns into his life. The bully, Mick played by Jason Ritter decides to stick around and starts hanging out with Charlie and his group of friends. Charlie holds a secret that he isn't sure if Mick knows or not and if there's a reason why he's sticking around; it's still worth a watch.
Walter M

In "The Education of Charlie Banks," Charlie(Jesse Eisenberg) and Danny(Chris Marquette) are best friends in high school in the 1970's. They attend a party where they run into Mick(Jason Ritter), a charismatic friend of Danny's, who owns a fearsome reputation… More
In "The Education of Charlie Banks," Charlie(Jesse Eisenberg) and Danny(Chris Marquette) are best friends in high school in the 1970's. They attend a party where they run into Mick(Jason Ritter), a charismatic friend of Danny's, who owns a fearsome reputation which he reinforces when he brutally beats two men on the roof. Charlie tells the police what he saw and Mick is arrested. However, he is afraid and recants his story, staying north of 14th Street just to be safe. Three years later, Charlie and Danny attend college together upstate where Charlie has a crush on Mary(Eva Amurri), who is beautiful, rich and quite probably out of his league. And then Mick shows up. "The Education of Charlie Banks" is a deceptively intelligent movie, that once you get beyond all of the academic references, is not really about Charlie and his decision after all, despite there being quite a bit about identity and becoming a new person at college. Rather, it is about Mick, setting up a debate of nature versus nurture, along the lines of Frankenstein.(I guess they did not teach Victorian and Romantic Gothic at this college.) Mick is a monster who is more out of control than anything else, doing more damage than just wrecking Charlie's sex life. And there are hints of a rough upbringing that none of the rich kids had to live through which does not mean they know how to act properly, either.
Sol C

Great job, Fred Durst. Durst does a great job directingwise with this film. It is well casted. The performances by all in the cast are great, especially Jesse Eisenberg, Jason Ritter, Eva Amurri, Chris Marquette, and Sebastian Stan. The film kind of reminded me of the film, A Guide to… More
Great job, Fred Durst. Durst does a great job directingwise with this film. It is well casted. The performances by all in the cast are great, especially Jesse Eisenberg, Jason Ritter, Eva Amurri, Chris Marquette, and Sebastian Stan. The film kind of reminded me of the film, A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints. I definitely recommend this film.
Remi L

When I first saw the movie cover, I thought Jesse Eisenberg (the headliner) was Michael Cera, lol. I was ready to completely dismiss this film when I saw that FRED DURST directed it, but it actually turned out to be an entertaining film. Charlie Banks, the main character, is a middle… More
When I first saw the movie cover, I thought Jesse Eisenberg (the headliner) was Michael Cera, lol. I was ready to completely dismiss this film when I saw that FRED DURST directed it, but it actually turned out to be an entertaining film. Charlie Banks, the main character, is a middle class kid with a rich kid for a best friend, who both seem to feel most at home in a working class neighborhood with all the black kids and blue collar kids. They're also best buds with the neighborhood bully who never seemed to learn that kicking a man when he's down is overkill. They head off to college, leaving the bully behind, establish new roots and identities, only to have the bully on their doorstep once more. I enjoyed it. It was subtle and witty without being self-aware or obnoxious about it. Charlie Banks is a nerd, but not the completely pathetic dry-mouthed stereotype that's become so popular in Hollywood. He's Seth Cohen without the neurosis. But I almost felt like it was a fantasy of the 70s. White kids and black kids kicking it together with no problem? Young women going to college without the assumption that they're getting an MRS? Working class kids hanging with trust fund babies without the judgment? It almost didn't feel real. I was pleasantly surprised by Durst's turn as a director. I wonder how he personally related to this story.
Sarah P

Surprisingly, it wasn't horrible. The problem was the story wasn't great. It was predictable and would have been better suited as an MTV movie they play after all the reality shows.
Erin C

I liked this movie. The main character was pretty funny and likable. Pretty surprising that Fred Durst directed it.
Nick G

I didn't like this movie. I felt some of the directing was forced. Dialogue that didn't need to be there but was just to be sure you didn't miss something. A few unnecessary fades/zooms/pans that felt out of place. Also, a seemingly critical, and could be moving… More
I didn't like this movie. I felt some of the directing was forced. Dialogue that didn't need to be there but was just to be sure you didn't miss something. A few unnecessary fades/zooms/pans that felt out of place. Also, a seemingly critical, and could be moving scene during the dance that just doesn't work. You'll know it when you see it. The music is bad and seems hokey and overly dramatic at times. It's a C-rate score at best. This may in part be because the audio mix was horrible. I don't think it was our surround sound's fault as we've never had a problem with thundering "background" music muffling voices before. Lastly, I like Jason Ritter, but seriously.. he's not a tough guy. I just didn't buy it. Maybe after playing the bullied nerd in 'Our Very Own' he felt a compelling need to play the opposite role.