The Perks of Being a Wallflower dir. Stephen Chbosky
Do not judge this film by it’s hype, or for that matter by it’s first 20 minutes. What starts out as an almost sickeningly ‘indie’ American movie turns out to be a genuinely affecting and dark coming of age story.
Emma Watson is of course one of the main reason this film is being talked about so much, and she pulls off the transformation from lucky kid to serious actor. Most definitely shrugging away the last of Hermione Granger, she gives a emotive, grown up and moving performance as Sam, alternative Senior who takes Charlie, Logan Lerman, under her wing.
The plot in its most basic form is formulaic – quiet, wallflower, freshman takes up with older kids who show him the world. There is a strong ‘indie’ quality to the film, it feels almost like a small budget picture that got lucky. However the point is laboured somewhat – the relentlessly British soundtrack and the now ubiquitously line in ‘alternative’ American films “You like The Smiths?!” But you can forgive the conceit; the characters lives are truly engaging and just beneath the veneer of youthful exuberance is the constant thread of Charlie’s troubled past.
On the surface this film appears to be your run of the mill coming of age story, but in reality the film goes much deeper than that touching on the darker side of human emotions – guilt, abuse, mental illness.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower is pleasantly surprising; it’s not a chick flick, or a teen movie as some of the advertising would have you think. In actual fact its much more interesting than that, it’s an intelligent film that slowly builds towards a totally unexpected end.
Jackanory Reviews 