Review of The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012) by Forrest P — 12 Jul 2014

My favorite film of all-time is Mike Nichols's The Graduate. Every once in awhile, we need movies that tell us more about who we are and how we as human beings function-and how we use to function. There are phases that we go through that some movies try to capture. Some movies do better than others. Not every film can be The Breakfast Club or The Graduate, but some can be as emotionally gratifying on a whole different level.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower stars Logan Lerman as Charlie Kelmeckis, the troubled young teen that we have seen countless of times. I could say that this film does it in a significantly unique way, but this would not be giving credit where credit is due. I have seen many movies tackle this character-from The Chumscrubber to Donnie Darko-to varying degrees of success. Charlie completely embodies what this film does so perfectly well. It takes the old that we have seen before and gives it to us in a way that we haven't seen before.

Stephen Chbosky wrote the novel Wallflower was based on. He also not only wrote the screenplay to this film, but also took the director's chair. This is very probably the greatest decision that could have been made in the production of this picture; Chbosky gives his own personal touch on a film that could not have been successfully captured by any other writer/director team. He knows the quiet nuances, the calculated subtleties, in his story that other directors would have picked up and fumbled. He knows that his audience is intelligent enough to read into the characters as much as necessary, and he trusts them to make their own judgments on his characters-or pass on them if the case may be.

I cannot successfully relay the simplicity in which this film gains its magnificent emotional response and catharsis. Chbosky remembers what it is like to be the underdog in high school and to be ignored by everyone around him. He understands how that feels, and that understanding comes out through the pages of the script and through the screen. This film is not just about finding one's place in high school or even in life-it's simply about the experience of these things happening to us and trying to figure out our surrounding life characters and events.

There is a lot that goes on under the surface of this film that I cannot express simply. I urge my readers to view this film and make their own judgments. A lot of teenage films are made, but this is, in my opinion, one of the finest that have ever been made.