"We accept the love we think we deserve."
What glory and horror high school may have delivered is in the heart of The Perks of Being A Wallflower, a coming-of age drama based on a book by also-director Stephen Chbosky. The pic is an honest account, following an introvert incoming freshman Charlie (Logan Lerman, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief), who is at struggle to rework his life after what his past brought him. His family is very supportive and guiding, but it's Sam (Emma Watson, Harry Potter) and Patrick (Ezra Miller, We Need to Talk About Kevin) who heads him to a safe haven, away from the mourning for his best friend's sudden suicide and his "dark past" he's not really even aware of.
Chbosky recreates his instant cult classic with intent of better molding Charlie's character. He does a very fine job in journeying to wonders and terrors Charlie goes through, and this is even more emphasized with Lerman's efficient portrayal. Lerman took appearance and noticed in a Gerard Butler film (Gamer) and as Renée Zellweger's son in My One and Only. From the Percy Jackson fare and up to now, Lerman is arguably improved, displaying the human traits of a troubled tween-teen. He takes the role seriously and captures every scene that he's involved with (basically every scene, they are).
But in the pic, there's some room for comparison. The by-default weirdo Ezra Miller shows his chameleon, transforming from a schizophrenic slasher (in We Need to Talk About Kevin) to an energetic gay guy who loves some football and one particular jock playing it. "Love it; love football," he says to the estranged Charlie. Miller basically generates the light in the film, throwing a couple of lines that strike the tummy when hits. "Yeah! Write about us, you could call it the Slut and the Falcon. Make us solve crimes," and I laugh so hard. On one occasion he throws: "Kiss the girl in this room, who you think is the prettiest" and then Charlie kisses Sam.
Sam who is sexually molested as a child by his father's boss. Sam who likes to date older boys who like to treat her as if she's nothing, is played well by Emma Watson. I've long waited for a project of her outside Harry Potter, and I'm glad she ended up with something like Perks.
The pic, while structurally a mess, is impressively efficient. And it sifts the air, and then sprayed on some nostalgia, some sadness, some horror, some fun, some drugs, some falling in, and out of love. In fewer words: some high school. Chbosky has been a filmmaker ever since, but in my honest opinion, a tad more organization should get him to a rock solid future as one. Even as a novelist, he seemed to have problems, particularly building Charlie's character. In the novel, Charlie was a bit confusing and filled with traits you'd be hesitant to buy. Fortunately, Chbosky did focused on centering the film on Charlie whose character is now much more figured and shaped.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower, an epistolary novel-based pic, is an emotionally effective and a heartwarming account on what struggles and wonders high school could have us deserve. A
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