See It or Skip It: The Education of Charlie Banks

Your first clue that The Education of Charlie Banks is entirely skipable is the fact that it was directed by Limp Bizkit front man Fred Durst.

Your second clue is that Durst cast sitcom star Jason Ritter as the biggest bad ass in the East Village.

Say what?

Opening in the early seventies, the film follows the eponymous character, Charlie Banks (skillfully played by Jesse Eisenberg), from a tender ten-year-old as he ogles local bully Mick (Ritter) in wonder, to the teenager who watches in horror as he viciously assaults two suburban jocks at a high school party. Charlie turns Mick into the police but quickly has a change of heart, fearing the title of “rat” and “snitch.” Three years later, Charlie and his best friend Danny (woefully underrated Christopher Marquette) are happily situated in a generic liberal arts Ivy League school (think Vassar) when Mick unexpectedly appears, Charlie fears, for vengeance. 

While Eisenberg and Marquette show admirable effort, Durst is incapable of creating a film with real texture or tension. Contributing to the breakdown is Peter Elkoff’s heavy-handed script, riddled with thudding Great Gatsby parallels and references. In combination with an inadequate, inexperienced director and totally unsuitable casting choices, this Education gets a D.

Skip it.

—Sasha Perl-Raver