The Perks of Being a Wallflower

High school in movies is very rarely comparable to actual high school. It’s become a clichéd expectation. The Perks of Being a Wallflower doesn’t present that same glossy teenage experience. But it covers enough tough real life situations that teens watching can probably relate to one if not many of the stressful events. Perks stars Logan Lerman as Charlie, a shy high school freshman who carries some pretty intense middle school baggage. Though when he befriends two more expressive seniors, (Emma Watson and Ezra Miller) he begins to come out of his shell and experience high school in a positive way.

While Lerman has been around the film set a bit with parts in some mid-level blockbusters, (Percy Jackson, 3:10 to Yuma) this performance showcases his acting abilities very well. He masters a difficult character, who carefully balances between sulky, optimistic, and mentally ill. Even if the viewer doesn’t know someone like Charlie, the film will leave them thinking that they do. Watson’s big post Harry Potter role is also cleverly handled. Though after watching her eight film run in the HP films, the iffy American accent is very noticeable. Had she been an unknown, it may not have been as easy to notice. Miller rounds out the film’s lead trio with a quality performance as a character facing a tough set of circumstances. In fact, most of the characters face tough circumstances.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower at times feels like a laundry list of what could happen in high school to make things difficult. But to just sit back and watch the movie, it reaches the infrequent achievement of captivating an audience. It’s masterly crafted with precision dialogue and unmatched pacing. Director Stephen Chbosky, who wrote the screenplay and the original novel, has made a movie that deserves to go down as one of the great coming of age films of the decade. But if one more movie tells me that music sounds better on vinyl… I’ll probably do nothing more than come on W^M and complain about it.

Each film earns either zero, a half or a full arrow in five categories. The categories are Acting, Writing/Directing, Emotion, Innovation and Overall Impression. The arrows are added up to equal the full score.