The Education of Charlie Banks

Play trailer

The Education of Charlie Banks

R

2009

1h 40m

Drama

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

48%

Tomatometer

31 Reviews

45%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

Charlie Banks (Jesse Eisenberg) and his best friend, Danny (Chris Marquette), attend college at an elite school in upstate New York. Charlie's world comes crashing down with the unexpected arrival of Mick (Jason Ritter), a bully from high school. As Mick worms his way into Charlie's life and the lives of his friends, Charlie begins to fear the worst: that Mick may be planning revenge for an incident from their shared past.

Watch on Prime Video

Stream Now

Critics Consensus

Unevenness and earnestness mire this otherwise sweet, surprising coming of age drama.

Read Critics Reviews

Nicolas Rapold

Film Comment Magazine

10/20/2014

Though painted with broad strokes and marred by dialogue howlers during key moments, Education tracks Charlie's emerging sense of identity and perspective.

Go to Full Review

Liam Lacey

Globe and Mail

04/17/2009

2/4

One of those voice-over memory stories about a college student coming to terms with the bully who haunted his childhood.

Go to Full Review

Greg Quill

Toronto Star

04/17/2009

2.5/4

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.

Go to Full Review

Debbie Lynn Elias

Behind The Lens

11/06/2019

Societal commentary, some magnetic performances, life lessons learned - or not, coming of age, trust, friendship. THE EDUCATION OF CHARLIE BANKS is an education for us all.

Go to Full Review

Sarah Sluis

Film Journal International

08/15/2011

The story of a street kid hiding out in a preppy college never leaves familiar ground.

Go to Full Review

Brian Orndorf

DVDTalk.com

06/15/2009

C-

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.

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

07/28/2015

Loved it. Such a great film. Thought provoking.

See more

04/05/2015

A decent college movie.

See more

06/11/2014

This is a great coming of age film with a teenie little twist. Who would have known Fred Durst was the director. Still a must see.

See more

07/17/2013

This movie surprised me by how great the acting and directing was. The story was interesting from the get-go and it kept me interested throughout the entire movie. Jesse Eisenberg was great as Charlie Banks and the movie did keep you on the edge of your seat during some really stressful times as the story unfolded. This is a slow paced movie that some will find boring but i really liked it. A great movie.

See more

01/22/2013

Interesting look at class systems and college life in the early 80's. Fred Durst delivers a strong directorial debut. Jesse Eisenberg isn't the best actor, but I love him just because I know if I watch a movie he's in, that it will be decent. He chooses his rolls better than any living actor I can think of. The real star of this was Jason Ritter though, who reminded me of a young John Travolta. Overall, probably not a film I'll ever watch again, but I still enjoyed very much.

See more

11/09/2012

Captures the spirit of social interaction at uni really well, the dynamic between Jesse Eissenberg and Jason Ritter is really tense as well, decent film.

See more

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Fred Durst

Director

Jesse Eisenberg

Charlie

Jason Ritter

Mick

Chris Marquette

Danny

Eva Amurri Martino

Mary

Sebastian Stan

Leo

Reign Over Me

64%

81%

Reign Over Me

Watchlist

August

36%

22%

August

Watchlist

Half Nelson

91%

82%

Half Nelson

Watchlist

Mean Creek

88%

82%

Mean Creek

Watchlist

Love Is the Drug

60%

50%

Love Is the Drug

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

Five Favorite Films with Fred Durst

Critics Consensus: Monsters vs. Aliens Is A Blast

Ice Cube, Fred Durst Making a Movie Together

View more photos

Synopsis

Charlie Banks (Jesse Eisenberg) and his best friend, Danny (Chris Marquette), attend college at an elite school in upstate New York. Charlie's world comes crashing down with the unexpected arrival of Mick (Jason Ritter), a bully from high school. As Mick worms his way into Charlie's life and the lives of his friends, Charlie begins to fear the worst: that Mick may be planning revenge for an incident from their shared past.

Director: Fred Durst
Producer: Marisa Polvino
Screenwriter: Peter Elkoff
Distributor: Anchor Bay
Production Co: Strongheart Pictures
Rating: R (Sexual Content|Pervasive Language|Drug and Alcohol Use|Some Violence)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 27, 2009, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 11, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $14.5K
Runtime: 1h 40m

Most Popular at Home Now