The Education of Charlie Banks poster & wallpaper
Get movie widget Recommend it Add to Favorites

Jesse Eisenberg, Jason Ritter, Eva Amurri, Christopher George Marquette, Sebastian Stan ... see more see more... , Gloria Votsis , Miles Chandler

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 b... read more read more...est 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

Flixster Users

47% liked it

8,171 ratings

Critics

46% liked it

28 critics

R, 1 hr. 40 min.

Directed by: Fred Durst

Release Date: March 27, 2009

Invite friends to see

DVD Release Date: June 30, 2009

Get It:

Stats: 342 reviews

report incorrect info

Photos

The Education of Charlie Banks The Education of Charlie Banks Charlie Banks
Upload a Photo | View All The Education of Charlie Banks Photos

Your Rating


clear rating

Flixster Reviews (342)

  • LWOODS04
    September 22, 2011
    LWOODS04
    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 Ch... read morearlie'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."
  • bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb1
    November 4, 2010
    bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb1
    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+
  • itsjustme2004
    October 14, 2010
    itsjustme2004
    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 ... read morea talented cast.
  • aliceinpunderland
    June 19, 2010
    aliceinpunderland
    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?
  • dreamfaeries
    May 5, 2010
    dreamfaeries
    Very intense. You can feel this tension between the two leads that cuts into your bones. Nicely done performances.
  • LitelBluHli
    July 6, 2009
    LitelBluHli
    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 lif... read moree. 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.
  • gator681
    April 20, 2010
    gator681
    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... read more 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.
  • SC007
    February 14, 2010
    SC007
    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 Gui... read morede to Recognizing Your Saints. I definitely recommend this film.
  • RemiLogan
    August 15, 2010
    RemiLogan
    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 mi... read moreddle 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.
  • trisarahtops22
    December 13, 2009
    trisarahtops22
    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.

View All The Education of Charlie Banks Reviews

Critic Reviews

Liam Lacey
April 17, 2009
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. Full Review

Greg Quill
April 17, 2009
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. Full Review

Michael Rechtshaffen
April 3, 2009
Michael Rechtshaffen, Hollywood Reporter

Travels in some unexpected, thoughtful directions.

Ben Mankiewicz
March 30, 2009
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. Full Review

Ben Lyons
March 30, 2009
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. Full Review

Robert Abele
March 27, 2009
Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times

Too often Durst's direction is overly earnest, heavy in long takes, atmosphere wise but scene foolish. Full Review

Kyle Smith
March 27, 2009
Kyle Smith, New York Post

The Education of Charlie Banks wants to be The Great Gatsby of college movies. It falls a tad short. Full Review

Jeannette Catsoulis
March 27, 2009
Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times

Thanks to sincere performances (most notably from Mr. Ritter and Eva Amurri as Charlie's upper-crust crush) and clever writing (by Peter Elkoff), the movie never becomes maudlin. Full Review

Stephanie Zacharek
March 26, 2009
Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com

There's enough sweetness, and enough just-under-the-surface intelligence, in "The Education of Charlie Banks" to suggest that Durst may have a future as a filmmaker. Full Review

Joe Neumaier
March 26, 2009
Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News

Another nicely understated performance from Jesse Eisenberg anchors this shambling drama, the latest film from Limp Bizkit front man Fred Durst. Full Review

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Cast

More Like This

This list looks lonely.
Add a suggestion!

Facts

No facts approved yet. Be the first

The Education of ... : Watch Free on TV

Movie Quizzes

No quizzes for The Education of Charlie Banks. Want to create one?

Video Clips

No video clips yet. Want to upload one?

Meet Other Fans

Add The Education of Charlie Banks to favorites

Recent News

No recent headlines. Got one?

Recent Lists

Make a List |

View All Lists

Most Popular Skin

No skins yet. Interested in creating one?