Perks of Being A Wallflower

There have been a lot of movies about teens, their angst, transition and their struggles that are usually considered petty by the older generation. Very few movies has depicted a truthful portrait of teens and most of them are usually treated as comedic. Mean Girls was one of the films that dared to open up the true world of high school, and that was 8 or 9 years ago. Back in 1998, Stephen Chbosky wrote one of the most important novels of out time. Considered as the J.D. Salinger of our time, Perks of Being A Wallflower is considered to be one of the most challenged books of all time.

The film primarily follows Charlie, a freshman, as he enters high school. He is not new to typical high school scene and has decided to be unknown and invincible. In that nature, he was able to see things differently. Aside from being a typical high school student, he is trying to get through the death of his best friend during the summer. As he was immersed through high school, he meets Patrick, a senior in his freshman shop class. Charlie grew closer with Patrick which led him to meet his stepsister, Sam. Together, they discover their own personas and live through high school dealing with realistic situations.

One might say that most moviegoers came to the film's screening due to curiosity on how Emma Watson would do post-Harry Potter. I was not even familiar with the book beforehand. It was Emma Watson who dragged me to the cinema. Although, there are some news that the book is indeed great, it was only second to my motivation to watch the film. Surprisingly, it was indeed one of the films that should not be missed.

The film boasts its powerful display of sincerity in every frame. It does not dwell on pretensions like almost every film that tries to understand the psyche of teens. It would be very hard to describe how beautiful the film was helmed. It made the lines sounded so truthful yet it does not sound corny that it would make somebody cringe to their seat. There was a balance of drama and humor in the film. Very strong performances from the lead actors. Watson was able to at least lose her British accent. Ezra Miller's portrayal of Patrick also lights up the screen while Logan Lerman shows a subtle portrayal of the damaged persona of Charlie.

Perks of Being A Wallflower as a film may be considered as important as the book it was based on. One of its advantages is to have its author be the director of the adaptation which gives him the complete control over the justice of the book. The message was sent clearly to the audience and they listened and they saw sincerity and beauty within the message. This is the reason Perks of Being A Wallflower is a film so important, it must be seen by people of all ages.

GRADE: A+

trailer

Tweet