Perks of Being a Wallflower(2012)

"Let's Go Be Psychos Together"


PLOT

Charlie is a abnormal young man, who has a troubled past and uncertain future as he begins high school, until one day he meets two seniors who helps guide him onto a better path.


MY THOUGHTS

I've heard a lot about this movie from different people that have read the book by Stephen Chbosky and also that same the movie during its theatrical run, surprisingly it was all good things about it. So when I finally got the chance to check it out I did and was I not disappointed with anything in this movie, which is set during the early 90s so there are no cellphones, computers, facebook, twitter etc(something this generation is suffering from) The teens in this movie are from what seems a foreign time, house parties, school dances and other things that teens used to do are still at its height here. and after viewing I'm calling it the Say Anything of this generation


We meet Charlie(Logan Lerman) a freshman who is beginning high school, he has no friends or any real connection with people, he's very introverted, but very smart and is ridiculed by all the popular kids(understandably) but surprisingly by the other smart kids as well, he's English Teacher Mr. Anderson(Paul Rudd) takes a liking to him and sees something special in him, that Charlie doesn't.

Charlie finally strikes up the nerve to leave his comfort zone when he introduces himself to shop classmate senior Patrick (Ezra Miller) at a football game, who befriends him without question, which makes Charlie feel  good, after the game Patrick invites him along with his step sister Sam (Emma Watson) to a local hangout where everyone go after football games, Charlie realizes that he has a lot in common with these two especially when it comes to music.


Patrick and Sam takes Charlie to a house party where Charlie gets high for the first time by eating some weed brownies, during which time the other Seniors welcome him in to their core group, Sam finds out that Charlie lose his childhood friend to suicide which kinda explains Charlies introverted behavior, Charlie learns a secret about Patrick being gay and has a secret relationship with star football player Brad, but he doesn't tell anyone.


As the school year goes on Charlie, Sam, Patrick and the rest of The Wallflowers Mary Elizabeth (Mae Whitman), Alice (Erin Wilhelmi) and Bob (Adam Hagenbuch) go threw relationships, personal issues, life lessons, that will help them shape their futures....




One think I really enjoyed about this movie is that the teenagers in this movie are like real kids not the way teens are now who think they know everything, because everything is giving to them and they don't have to learn or experiences things, they make each other mixtapes, and actually talk instead of text or use social media to interact with each other, there is a running minor plot of trying to find the name of a song that no one knows the name of which I think is cool.


The young cast all give refreshingly performances, led by the 3 main leads

Logan Lerman-Charlie



He reminds me of John Cusack in teen drama classics like Say Anything, and Better Off Dead with how he brings this character to life with his sensitive nature.

Emma Watson- Sam


She shows that she can have a long career as she takes on more challenging roles like this with her wide range, and the sky is the limit for her with what I think is a award caliber performance in Perks of Being a Wallflower.


Ezra Miller- Patrick



Everything I said about Emma Watson I second with Ezra Miller, who shines as the the fun loving Patrick who has the task of keeping everything together even though his life probably is one step away from being where Charlie is if he wasn't the way he was, this character could've easily been very stereotypical but its not thanks to Ezra Miller who seems to hit all the right notes that makes it work and hopefully doesn't get typecast in only playing these kinda roles.



In closing I'm glad I got to see this gem, Teen dramas like this used to be a common thing but went away hopefully with the critical and public praise of Perks of Being a Wallflower we will see more of these movies made in the future.

If you like richly made, character dramas that just so happen to deal with teen issues as well as adult issues like this movie does, and if you don't mind seeing reenactments of The Rocky Horror Picture show along with very good performances, and a cool retro soundtrack then this is the movie for you.


Rent It, Buy It, Stream it if you must, but most importantly check it out.

MY RATING

9/10