Characters mostly go clunk in drug drama 'Being Charlie'

Nothing in Rob Reiner's well-intentioned, cautionary domestic drug drama "Being Charlie" feels authentic, genuine or sincere.

The characters come off half-baked (figuratively as well as the other kind). The clunky, calculated dialogue at best can be described as perfunctory. You'd have to tune in the Lifetime Channel to find this level of sparkless acting, listless directing and lackadaisical pacing.

"Being Charlie" marks what should have been a remarkable collaboration between Reiner and his co-writer son Nick, who based this story on the younger Reiner's drug abuse and how it challenged his family relationships.

The drama stars "Jurassic World" actor Nick Robinson as Charlie, a teenage substance abuser and addict whose issues with authority figures and his father spur the plot.

Freshly 18, Charlie bolts from a Utah rehab facility and heads to his L.A. home where his actor-turned-politician dad David Mills (Carey Elwes, sounding like Peter Lorre filtered through a cowboy) seems less concerned about Charlie than his campaign for governor.

Charlie's best bud Adam (Devon Bostick, turning in the film's sharpest performance), also a druggie, enables his friend to jump the tracks of sobriety that he himself has never stayed on.

Meanwhile, the obligatory romantic subplot has Charlie falling for feisty alcoholic Eva (Morgan Saylor), the only hot girl wearing short shorts in the entire rehab center. (By the way, whatever becomes of her?)

Nick Reiner and co-screenwriter Matt Elisofon hatched the idea for "Being Charlie" after meeting at a rehab facility a few years ago. Then, they imagined a TV series based on their own real-life experiences.

Yet, these "real-life" elements never show up to tell us something new or insightful about the difficult recovery experience. Instead, we get overwritten dialogue in a superficial, forced reconciliation.

"I don't hate you!" Charlie tells his suddenly sympathetic father. "I did drugs to kill the noise!"

"I was part of that noise, wasn't I?" Dad sheepishly guesses. Right.

Most disappointing, "Being Charlie" continues Rob Reiner's slide into the abyss of forgettable mediocrity, following "And So It Goes," "The Magic of Belle Island," "Flipped," "The Bucket List" and "Rumor Has It."