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On Demand picks

October 27, 2009

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CHARLIE BARTLETT
(Showtime on Comcast) It takes a minute for this high school comedy to distinguish itself from the movies (“Rushmore,’’ say) it appears to be ripping off. But once it does, the movie transforms into an exuberant, unexpectedly smart comedy about the fraught symbiosis between kids and grown-ups. The title hero (Anton Yelchin) is a preppie who becomes popular at his new public school. Robert Downey Jr. is the principal. Hope Davis is mom. And Yelchin is uncannily good. Actually, the whole cast is. (R; runs through Nov. 9) WESLEY MORRIS

HAROLD AND KUMAR ESCAPE FROM GUANTANAMO BAY
(HBO on Comcast) It only takes one scene for the Indian-American med-student stoner and his tense Korean-American roommate to get out of Gitmo, but they remain prisoners of the same cruddy filmmaking that made their trip to White Castle a cult hit in 2003. And the political punch the title promises goes largely undelivered. (R, runs through Nov. 9) WESLEY MORRIS

LASSIE
(HBO on Comcast) The famous collie (an eighth-generation descendant of the one who starred in the 1943 original) saves the sheep, saves the family, and saves this movie, updated to the present and built around a dysfunctional family with a boy who won’t give his stepmother a chance. Pretty pat and predictable, but the camera luckily stays mostly on the enormously appealing dog and the attractive Shenandoah Valley scenery. (PG; runs through Nov. 9)

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