Ah, to have lived in Greenwich Village in the 1970s. The Greenwich Village that I inhabit now is nowhere near as gritty and raw as that of several decades ago — the Village in which we meet Charlie Banks and his group of friends at a house party. Charlie (Jesse Eisenberg) is holed up in a walk-in shower when he meets Mick (Jason Ritter) who later lays the smackdown on a couple of other boys at the party. He then gets arrested but soon comes back to Mick when he appears at his college out of the blue.

This is director Fred Durst’s first picture (he was originally a part of the rap/metal group Limp Bizkit), and while this doesn’t seem to be appropriate subject matter for a metal singer-turned-filmmaker, Durst injects The Education of Charlie Banks with a large amount of warmth and honesty, and avoids any sort of indie flick clichés that definitely could have reared their ugly heads. Realistic performances from the cast, especially Eisenberg, who seems to be tactfully avoiding becoming the next Michael Cera, make the film deviate from being labeled as an indie film, shifting it more towards a period piece about the ’80s for today’s generation.

Durst’s film remains sturdily on its own two feet while centered in the Village and the beginning of Charlie’s college years, and even successfully introduces Mick back into the plot without any major plot holes or issues. But as Mick continues to stay in Charlie’s life, Durst seems to choose to give the film a thriller vibe, which comes across as a bit forced and unnecessary. Durst seems to forget, during the last third of the film, that this is a film about growing up, instead shifting the tone from melancholy to violent and vengeful. Not quite the best idea, if I do say so myself. The college setting in which the majority of the film takes place also seems moderately questionable. Where are all the adults? You barely see any in the film whatsoever. And why are the students barely in class? I have no idea. It all seems very slapdash and unrealistic; then again, what do I know? My college experience never involved a true campus.

It’s quite nice to see something positive come out of the musician-come-film-star/director fad that occasionally rears its ugly head, and while Fred Durst has some polishing up to do before he can be considered a truly great director, Charlie Banks is a first feature that is certainly anything but awful. Despite his background, Durst’s ability to coax believable performances from his cast results in a humorous yet sad and somewhat misguided image of the lives of the rich and fortunate students who call their New England liberal arts school home. While it’s unclear if any of the characters learned anything particularly academic over the course of this film, Charlie Banks educates us about the crappy feelings that go along with growing up, and informs us that there is indeed artistic hope for Fred Durst outside of Limp Bizkit. Thank goodness for that.