New DVD Picks of the Week: 'Charlie Bartlett' and 'Definitely, Maybe'

Charlie Bartlett
It was set to come out in August, a darkly comic, drug-filled teaser to the impending back-to-school September. Then the film got bumped to February, and slid in and out of theaters with barely a second glance. This is too bad, because we're talking about a flick free of the booze and boobs teen movie mentality, and one that stars Anton Yelchin, Robert Downey Jr., Hope Davis, and Kat Dennings.

Charlie Bartlett is the story of a spoiled, ignored rich kid (Yelchin). With a mother (Davis) who is troubled and heavily medicated, he runs rampant with his own brand of living -- an Igby character with the talents of Veronica Mars. But when he's ravaged the available private schools, he gets sent to the public variety, where he ends up becoming not only a prescription drug dealer, but a pseudo psychiatrist. All would be well in this new gig, save for the fact that he's dating the principal's (Downey Jr.) daughter (Dennings), and the principal wants to bring him down.

It might have sneaked by without a glance, but the Charlie Bartlett disc offers a decent collection of features. First, there are two commentaries -- one is director Jon Poll with writer Gustin Nash, and the other is Poll with stars Yelchin and Dennings. There is also a Restroom Confessional featurette, and a music video for "Voodoo" by Spiral Beach.

Check out Erik's Review | Buy the DVD

Definitely, Maybe
After exploding out of the pizza-place gate with Van Wilder, Ryan Reynolds quickly became the guy with charm, but not necessarily the IT guy. Waiting... and Just Friends didn't help matters, but then came what I call the triple-proof of his talent: The Nines, Chaos Theory (from last week), and finally, Definitely, Maybe. While each has its flaws, they offer glimpses at an actor who can handle more intelligent comedy, as well as more intriguing fare.

In Definitely, Maybe, he plays a man going through a divorce who sits his young daughter (Abigail Breslin) down to hear the story of his post-marriage romantic life, shielding little bits of information so that she can't figure out who ultimately became her mother: Isla Fisher, Elizabeth Banks, or Rachel Weisz. Like a quicker-paced How I Met Your Mother, he lines out the romance and mistakes as the young girl tries to figure out the mystery -- from Banks as the college sweetheart, to Weisz romancing an older Kevin Kline.

Like Bartlett, there's a small collection of special features on this disc -- commentary with director Adam Brooks and Ryan Reynolds, a featurette about the film, and a brief glimpse into creating the different time periods for the film with production design and music.

Check out James' Review | Buy the DVD

Be sure to visit Peter's Indies on DVD for some of the other great new releases this week.

Other New DVD Releases (June 24)

Honeydripper
10,000 BC
The Spiderwick Chronicles
Xanadu -- Magical Musical Edition
Bonneville