The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky, brings his characters, brilliantly to life
The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky brilliantly brings his characters to life.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
by Summit Entertainment
Ezra Miller (Patrick), Emma Watson (Sam), Logan Lerman (Charlie)
The Perks of Being a Wallflower has 4 stars- Rated PG-13, is suited to a mature audience, it includes scenes that address issues relating to, drug and alcohol use, sexual content including references, and a fight – all involving teens.
Available on: DVD, Blu-ray, on demand and pay-per-view
Few coming-of-age films are as thoughtful, poignant and carefully crafted as writer-director Stephen Chbosky’s “The Perks of Being a Wallflower.” Adapting the movie from his own novel, Chbosky brings his characters alive, fully involving the audience through their emotional upheavals.
The primary focus is on Charlie (Logan Lerman), a withdrawn high school freshman who has no friends. That changes when he meets Sam (Emma Watson) and her step-brother, Patrick (Ezra Miller), two seniors who are proud to call themselves outsiders. Sensing that Charlie needs companionship, they initiate the underclassman into their unique group, and the three become tight.
As the movie plays out, each of the major characters face ups and downs related to traditional high school struggles, including, relationships, bullying sexual abuse and teen suicide.
Perhaps because of Chbosky’s familiarity with, and love for the material, his cinematic adaptation is remarkable. Too often film adaptations of books, leave well-drawn literary characters feeling like empty shells, but that’s never a problem here. Charlie, Sam and Patrick have oodles of depth, and the youthful-but-seasoned cast puts in the work to assure their character is easy to relate to.
It would be easy to write “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” off, as one more teen film, in an ever-growing and overpopulated genre, but that would be a mistake. Like Cameron Crowe’s “Say Anything,” this is a teen drama with staying power, and audiences should enjoy it for years to come.
DVD and Blu-ray extras include deleted scenes, a making-of-feature and two audio commentaries.
By Forrest Hartman
Forrest@ForrestHartman.com
One Response to The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky, brings his characters, brilliantly to life
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Steve Kish
February 19, 2013 at 5:34 am
I feel you missed a huge chance to connect this teen drama to the brat pack cult classics. This movie reeks of The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, even Ferris Buelers Day Off type following. I personally watched it twice last week and told 4 people about it right away, they to watched it and then spread the word. Twenty years from now this movie will be used in other movies as a prop as the Breakfast Club was used in Pitch Perfect.