Review of The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012) by Rob S — 25 Jul 2015

This is the last film I had to watch for a class on young adult literature adaptation this summer. It might be safe to say this was my favorite film out of the three works we had to study this summer, the other two being "The Fault in Our Stars" and "My Sister's Keeper.".

I know I shouldn't really compare a film adaptation to its predecessor very often, but I am going to for a few aspects. While the letter-writing idea seemed to work for the novel, to be honest we probably could have gotten the same idea if Charlie simply narrated this film. The letter-writing in this film does not make too much sense since a film is a visual representation, so we see the experiences. Plus, how does writing a letter to the audience work in a film in general?

I liked how there was more interaction between Charlie and his teacher (played by Paul Rudd) in the film than in the novel. We get to see why the teacher becomes friends with Charlie when everyone in Charlie's class looks at him as an outcast - by the way, people in real life aren't as bullied as Charlie is in this film, even if they are "nerdy" or whatever stereotypes bullies tend to go after.

The film doesn't really address this, but the story takes place in 1991 and 1992, which explains the lack of technology in the film that I bet people didn't even notice. The story is relevant to this time period (being released in 2012) while touching on a completely different decade - and the beginning of that decade for that matter.

As for technical aspects of the film, I thought the acting was pretty mediocre for the most part. The camera-work was pretty standard as far as cinematography goes in this day and age, and the same goes for the editing. I think the strongest part of the film is Charlie's internal thoughts and the brief flashbacks we get to read into his life with more insight. A more dramatic coming-of-age tale, and a decent film. Though the cast isn't loaded with talent, more of the cast should have been recognized. I feel like the big selling point of this movie is that Emma Watson is the female lead.