This weekend saw the limited release of the big-screen adaptation of the Stephen Chbosky novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower. While I’ve never read the book I did enjoy the movie immensely. Major credit for this goes to the fantastic cast of Logan Lerman, Emma Watson and Ezra Miller, with a supporting cast that includes Paul Rudd, Mae Whitman and Johnny Simmons among others. The movie was adapted and directed by Stephen Chbosky himself and this seems to only help make the movie that much more enjoyable as you can tell he truly has a connection and understanding of the story and what made the novel work.
The movie centers around Charlie (Logan Lerman) as he is about to enter high school as a freshman in 1991. Charlie narrates the story, via a voice-over, as he writes letters to an unknown person. It’s in these voice-overs that we initially learn that Charlie is a withdrawn and troubled kid. Upon entering school, Charlie has no friends and on his first day the only friend he seemingly makes is his English teacher played by Paul Rudd. Before too long though Charlie meets Patrick (Ezra Miller, who gives a fantastic performance), a flamboyantly hilarious senior and his step-sister Sam (a stunning Emma Watson with a flawless American accent). It’s Patrick and Sam who take Charlie under their wing and welcome him to, as Sam states in one part of the movie, the island of misfit toys. Together they discover music, such as David Bowie’s Heroes, and revel in things such as midnight showings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. There are subplots including Mae Whitman as a buddhist punker friend of the group who dates Charlie to some humorous effect. There’s also another subplot including Patrick’s relationship with Johnny Simmons’ closeted quarterback character.
This movie has some pretty dark parts in it such as depression and suicide, but it’s these parts that make you realize that this isn’t your typical Hollywood high school movie. This is a movie that digs deeper and shows how mean kids really are in high school and the alienation and confusion most of us once felt oh so long ago. Logan Lerman, Ezra Miller and Emma Watson all give great performances that make you believe that these characters truly exist. As I said in the beginning of the review, Stephen Chbosky adapted and directed this from his own novel and his knowledge of the era and his love of the characters is present throughout. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is now open in Los Angeles and New York but hopefully will be opening in a theater near you. If and when it does, it is definitely a movie you should go see.