The Perks of Being a Wallflower

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is one of the best coming-of-age films in a very long time.  It’s also the very successful coming-out vehicle for Emma Watson of Harry Potter fame.  But, she is just one facet of a super-successful ensemble cast that includes Logan Lerman, Ezra Miller, Julia Garner, Dylan McDermott, Kate Walsh and Paul Rudd.

 

Lerman plays Charlie, a troubled freshman whose best friend committed suicide the previous year; an incident that has added to an earlier trauma that is gradually revealed during the course of the film.  Feeling isolated from his fellow classmates, he is taken in by a group of “misfit” seniors, including the half-siblings played by Watson and Miller.  They and their friends take Charlie on a school-year-long journey from childhood to young adulthood, including all the heartache and joy with which most of us can empathize.

 

The style of The Perks of Being a Wallflower is somewhat picaresque, trying, I believe, to include many episodes from the book, some of which are irrelevant to those, like me, who haven’t read it.  Yet, the spirit of the actors, directed by Steven Chbosky, and the pace of the editing, by Mary Jo Markey, keep the viewer involved and in complete enjoyment throughout.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower gets a 4+ out of 5.