Title: The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Directed by: Stephen Chbosky
Distributed by: Summit Entertainment
Release Date: September 21, 2012 (Limited)
Rated: PG-13
Synopsis: An introvert freshman is taken under the wings of two seniors who welcome him to the real world. (Via IMDB)
Brian: This movie was like something out of a dream, one of my very best dreams. Shaunta and I have been waiting for this movie for months with baited breath, especially after having read the book and reviewed it as our book of the month in August. My expectations were exceedingly high, not just because I loved the book, but because I love this cast so much. And the brilliant trailer made it look like so much fun. Shaunta and I are here to report that The Perks of Being a Wallflower has in no way disappointed us, but instead has invigorated our love of movies, and particularly teen movies, in a year that has had more disappointments than successes. Stephen Chbosky, the writer of the novel, wrote the screenplay and directed the movie, a practically unheard of triumvirate that also filled with great hope as I sat down for our Sunday night screening. If the movie didn’t work, who would there be to blame but the novelist! One of the great breakthroughs of this film is that, while Chbosky is a first time director, the movie comes to life in a very cinematic way. It’s not just that he successfully translates his story to the screen, he infuses it with cinematic moments all throughout, finding a perfect balance of comedy and drama, kookiness and truth. And what a cast he assembled. What a freaking awesome incredible sensational cast!
Shaunta:When I was 15, I went to the theater to see Dirty Dancing. When it was over, my friends and I paid to see it again. Like, the very next showing. When Perks of Being a Wallflower was over, I sat there and thought . . . again, again! I left the theater feeling really good. The book is one of my favorite stories, and the movie did it such justice. I love that it stayed in the late-80s, early-90s era. I was that age during that time, and I loved how right it felt. Mix tapes were an immensely important form of expression then, and the time and attention that went into making them cannot be under estimated. There were parts I liked even better than the book, which is a rare, rare occasion for me. For instance, the movie did a better job with Charlie’s mental illness than the book did. The cast was perfect. The music was insanely good. I loved how the movie reminded me of what it felt like to be 16 and infinite. This movie was a huge win for me. It was like the John Hughes movies that defined my adolescence, only deeper and a little darker. It’s the first movie in a long, long time that I want to spend nine bucks to see for a second time in the theater.
Brian: It’s like the long lost John Hughes movie from the late 80′s just recently unearthed for all of us to see. I too appreciated the time period the film was set in – it wouldn’t have been as effective and lovely if it had been set in 2012 – and I was especially impressed by the look of the film itself, which actually did appear not like a digitalized movie of today but with a tangibly old fashioned quality of a film that might have actually been released to theaters in 1991. I love the pacing of this movie, the way Chbosky slowly brings us into Charlie’s world for this life-altering freshman year filled with love and tragedy and spontaneity and hilarity. But no matter how del Chbosky could have captured his book on film, there would have been no success if he had put the three lead characters in the hands of lesser actors. Thank God he chose the absolute perfect trio to bring Charlie, Sam, and Patrick. Logan Lerman is someone who I mostly knew as the lead of the mediocre Percy Jackson movie. Here he fully inhabits Charlie and creates an astonishing breakthrough performance. Ezra Miller, so chilling in last year’s We Need to Talk about Kevin, has so much energetic fun as Patrick, the life of the party each and every time, but also with his own issues as a gay man that come to light in some of the film’s sadder, serious scenes. And then there’s Emma Watson, known only until now as Hermione Granger. She is wonderful in this movie, a perfect choice for Sam. Not only is she one of the most luminous actresses to have ever appeared on the screen, she actually did the unthinkable here and made me forget Hermione as the movie progressed. She creates a role here all her own, and I am so excited to see where her career is going to take her in the years to come.
Shaunta: For some of us, John Hughes movies never went away! It’s true that they’re coming up more often now though. The Breakfast Club played a part in the other movie I saw this week, Pitch Perfect. The chemistry between the three main characters in this movie was so perfect. I wanted to climb into the film and be part of their Island of Misfit Toys. Charlie is sympathetic without being pathetic. Sam is damaged without being broken. Patrick is . . . well, he’s just amazing. I didn’t even recognize Ezra Miller as the boy from We Need to Talk About Kevin. He has huge range as an actor, and he’s definitely one to watch. He’s a superstar. They all are, really, but him especially. The scenes where he plays Dr. Frank N. Furter are incredible. And then he’s so vulnerable in other scenes. Charlie reminds me a lot of myself at his age (except I turned 16 in the eleventh grade, not the ninth.) I had an English teacher who encouraged me as a writer and recommended life-changing books for me to read. And, as I said in my review of the book, I had my own in-retrospect-creepy, mostly-stranger friend to tell my worries and problems to. I fell in love with someone way cooler than me. I felt like an absolute outsider and had all of these weird family things that I didn’t think anyone else would understand. I related to Charlie in the book, but in the movie even more. The characters were enhanced by the film, and that’s not easy to do. The last movie I looked forward to this much as Hunger Games, and that one really disappointed me. I’m so glad that this one delivered, big.
