Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, Ezra Miller
Directed by Stephen Chbosky
Based on the book by Stephen Chbosky
Faithfulness to the book: 8/10
Rating of movie: A
Charlie is about to start his freshman year of high school with no friends. All he has is an address and a name of someone who could have slept with that person at that party that one time but didn't. Charlie begins the school year writing to this "friend" about his life and the observations he makes.
"The Perks of Being a Wallflower" has slowly become a popular sensation in waves of time. As the movie premier date loomed closer in 2012, people started picking this book up to read before seeing the movie. Living on a college campus and seeing this movie at a "movies on the lawn" event, I got to hear the reactions of at least a hundred college student during the movie. There was laughter, there was gasps of shock, and at the end of the movie people picked up their blankets in the freezing night and claimed that they were either going to read the book now or for those who have read it, that the book had changed their life.
The right actors were cast to play the right roles and the author/director Stephen Chbosky got to portray the movie how he envisioned it. The important parts in the book were shown in the movie and the memorable quotes from "We accept the love we think we deserve" to "And in this moment we are infinite" were said.
Logan Lerman is a great "Charlie" and he is able to make the audience fall in love and sympathize with the character. Emma Watson stars in her second role in a movie post "Harry Potter" and while her acting as Charlie's first love "Sam" was flawed, her overall performance is forgivable. Ezra Miller took on the flamboyant role of "Patrick", Charlie's best friend and Sam's brother. Miller does everything right as Patrick should be: funny, sarcastic, sassy. Miller has the character from the book played perfect.
This movie is something that can resonate with almost anyone who has at least gone to high school. Maybe they were a "Charlie" in some ways or maybe "Sam". Charlie see's life in a unique way, he is a wallflower. He sits back and watches life pass him by and as his freshman year comes to a close, he learns to participate more.
The best part is at the end of the movie, you get to see Charlie grow.
