Some Pros but Some Cons of watching this Wallflower
15 year old Charlie (Logan Lerman) has had a tumultuous few years; his best friend killed himself, he's permanently on medication and now he finds himself going to High School for the first time. Whilst bright Charlie is also shy and struggles to fit in but fortunately meets Patrick (Ezra Miller) and step sister Sam (Emma Watson) who take him under their wings and introduces him to all the experiences of High School from first kisses to getting stoned at parties.
Everyone's experience of High School, or secondary school as it is called here in the UK, is different and it is because of that not all High School movies work for everyone. That brings me to "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" which is certainly an entertaining movie but absolutely nothing like my experiences of secondary school. I mention this because I read several reviews which mentioned that "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" was the definitive High School movie and captured every aspect of it perfectly and I don't want anyone to feel bad when they think well High School wasn't like that for me.
But as I said "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" is entertaining but not because it is a coming of age movie but because of the characters, the acting and the music. The gay abandon of Patrick and Sam as they march to their own beat and dance with freedom when "Come on Eileen" is played is full of lively enjoyment and watching them mess around all the time is simply fun. There is also lots of great music which contribute to the vibe which is almost infectious in the way it sucks you in. In fact the writing throughout is very sharp be it the comedy or the more sensitive parts and enlightening dialogue of "We accept the love we think we deserve".
There are all the performances and in particular the trio of Logan Lerman, Ezra Miller and Emma Watson. Lerman brings the awkwardness which his character needs but not to the point of being too dark or dorky. And then there is Ezra Miller who brings so much comedy to the movie and livens it up when it starts to drift. But of course there is Emma Watson who when you ignore the accent, which didn't do it for me, delivers the performance of a promising young actress, maybe trying a little too hard to escape "Harry Potter" and Hermione but still delivering a fascinating character and one which is intentionally cute.
What this all boils down to is that "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" is a thoroughly entertaining movie beautifully acted, beautifully shot and with a nice mix of depth and comedy. But whilst for some they may be able to associate the movie with their own high school experiences it didn't work on that level for me.
