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Plot - Based on the novel written by Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower is about 15-year-old Charlie Kelmeckis (Logan Lerman), a shy and troubled outsider attempting to come to terms with the suicide of his best friend and his own mental illness. Some relief comes into his life when he befriends a group of self-described wallflowers that includes Patrick (Miller); a young gay man who is involved in a secret relationship with a popular athlete, and Patrick's stepsister Sam (Watson). These new connections brings some stability and happiness into Charlie's life. Before long Charlie beings to fall in love with Sam, but does not have the self-confidence to admit his feelings to her. The longer he spends with the group however the more confidence he gains as they take him under their wing and introduce him to the wider world. There are still going to be some dark times in his life however, including a revelation where we learn why Charlie has such troubles in the first place.
This film reminded me greatly of Zach Braff's 2004 effort, Garden State. Like that film I imagine that some viewers may not be all that taken with Perks, some perhaps even taking an active dislike to it. Like Garden State however I personally found watching this to be a very touching, moving and affecting experience. It's just one those films that I made a really personal connection to as I was watching it. This was largely down to how much of myself I could see in the character of Charlie. While my struggles may not have come from quite as dark a place as Charlie I certainly didn't have the happiest of experiences during my teenage years, especially when it came to my school days. Truthfully it was hell! Like the character of Charlie I suffered from social anxiety, was extremely withdrawn both in life and especially at school and for long spells I was deeply unhappy. So I was very easily able to place myself in Charlie's shoes and empathise with the character. There was one little moment in the film that just really drew me in. During English class the teacher (played winningly by Paul Rudd) is asking questions and getting no responses from the class. As he walks around the classroom however he notices that Charlie has been writing the correct answers in his notepad, but just didn't speak out in class. As I said it is a really tiny moment but it just worked for me on such a personal level. During class I would so often know the answer to something, but even if I was 99.99% sure I was correct I would never put my hand up in case I was somehow wrong or I did something stupid to attract attention to myself. I basically just tried my best to hide when at school.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower is based on the highly acclaimed debut novel of Stephen Chbosky, and with Chbosky behind the adaptation in the capacity of both writer and director, he ensures that the characters he created are treated with respect and tenderness and makes sure to focus on the messages that the film has to convey. There are a series of really lovely and touching scenes which I felt were just beautifully written and acted, while there were also some really lovely examples of dialogue, even if they could perhaps come across as pretentious to some (“We accept the love we think we deserve”). I felt that the film just captured so perfectly a number of facets of teenage life. It captures that great rush of excitement you feel when you discover a new song that you just absolutely love. You feel like it is going to change your life, and for the rest of your life you will forever associate it with a specific time and place in your existence. When you hear it on the radio it will just transport you right back. In a move similar to Stand by Me it highlights the close friendships you develop at this stage and how important they can be to your life. You really don't seem to ever form the same type of bond that you did as a kid or teenager; as was summed in Stand by Me with this quote that I love - “I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?” I think the film also highlights that emotion of feeling like a freak when you're at school. You feel like you're completely defective and different from every other single person in the world. You later discover that at one point or another it seems that everyone felt that way.
I felt that the film was extremely well acted throughout; a great ensemble effort from such a young cast. In the lead role I found Logan Lerman to be impressive and really quite affecting, giving a very touching and honest performance. He perhaps doesn't shine as brightly as some of his co-stars but I think a lot of that is down to the character being a much more difficult prospect than those around him. While they get to revel in being loud or flamboyant or flashy, Lerman's character is much quieter and more reserved, necessitating a smaller, low-key showing. It doesn't stop him from delivering a really tender and likeable performance however. As his best friend Patrick, Ezra Miller is fantastic, giving a really charismatic showing. When you couple this with his darkly magnetic (and vastly different) turn in We Need To Talk About Kevin, it really does mark Miller out as a young actor to really watch out for in the coming years. He takes the potentially clichéd character of the flamboyantly gay best friend but breathes life into it with great comic timing and sensitivity.
And then there is Emma Watson as Sam, the dreamgirl that steals Charlie's heart. First off I have to ask, when the hell did little Hermione get so damn sexy?! Man alive I was just utterly transfixed by her from the first moment she appeared on screen. Like Logan Lerman she is most closely associated with a large kiddie-friendly fantasy franchise (Percy Jackson and Harry Potter respectively). And like Logan Lerman she proves here that she also appears to have some acting chops on her as well, perhaps indicating some potential for a career beyond Hogwarts. As I said the whole cast are really strong, delivering a series of very likeable and believable performances, with Mae Whitman and Nina Dobrev being particular stand-outs. Exploring the DVD extras I discovered that during the shoot all of the young actors stayed together in the same floor of a hotel and really bonded; all of the becoming really great friends. And I think you can certainly see that on screen. They all have a great chemistry together and its completely believable that they are the closest of friends and have been their whole lives.
As I mentioned Stephen Chbosky was both the writer and director of this film, with it being his debut on both fronts. And there are occasions where you can see it. He has apparently dropped a lot of material from the original novel, but I'd say that it perhaps isn't quite enough. A number of threads are included which don't really go anywhere and are left rather dangling come the film's end. While on the directing side of things there are a few shots here and there that are a bit scrappy. For the most part however I think he does a very capable job, one that is very impressive given his lack of experience up until this point. He delivers a series of nicely composed shots, aided greatly by some beautiful lighting. Some people may accuse the film of being a touch unrealistic in regards to the way that the young characters talk and the manner in which they interact with each other. And while there may be an element of that at work I don't think it hurt the film at all; if anything it was the exact opposite. In that respect I found it rather akin to John Hughes' seminal classic The Breakfast Club. On occasion both films may indulge in slight exaggeration, but they do so to create an overall feeling of being real, of being authentic.
While I don't believe it has made its way to our shores I'm aware of a campaign in America called 'It Gets Better.' It was a project started up to support and help young people in the LGBT community in response to high numbers of teen suicide and bullying; its aim is to provide hope for affected individuals and let them know that it does get better. If the group were to expand its goals to cover all teens who are having a tough time then The Perks of Being a Wallflower would be able to serve as a damn good poster child for the cause. It has a very positive, uplifting and life-affirming message about no matter how bad a place you are in, there is always a glimpse of hope. In the film Charlie's transition is conveyed by a sequence which sees the group driving through a tunnel listening to David Bowie's “Heroes.” As they do so he steps out onto the back of the pick-up truck, stands up and allows the wind to rush against him. It's a great expression of freedom and hope, and as they emerge from the tunnel out into the light his fortunes have been transformed. And I felt very buoyed by this aspect to the film as truthfully I still worry greatly about how my life is going to turn our and how problems are going to resolve themselves. Even though I'm a few years older than the characters portrayed in the film I think part of the reason I was so taken with it is that in a number of ways I feel I'm still at their level in terms of age and where I am in life.
Oh and lastly there's the film's soundtrack. A large part of the characters' lives and their friendships resolved around their love of music. And as such the film boasts a rather excellent soundtrack which sits comfortably alongside the similarly themed Garden State, Juno and 500 Days of Summer. It's a delightful mix of 90s hits (the film is set during the early 90s) and classic efforts from earlier decades which includes the likes of The Smiths, Dexys Midnight Runners, Sonic Youth, New Order and David Bowie. As well as just being a fun listen the soundtrack is also a nice fit for the characters and their relationships.
Conclusion - I really need to start doing more thorough investigations into the films that I'm interested in. It's becoming quite commonplace for me to go into a film with the wrong idea of what I'm in for. And this was another case. When it came to Perks I had been anticipating a more light-hearted, romantic indie-comedy in the vein of Juno, Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, 500 Days of Summer etc. Instead I was treated to a film that had a great deal more depth and substance to it, that was significantly more serious and lighter on laughs than expected, but was probably all the better for it. I found it be a well written, affectingly acted film that just really touched me on a personal level. You'll sometimes really enjoy a film but as soon as the closing credits begin to roll you immediately forget about it. This was the opposite of that. As it finished I just sat there for a while absorbing it, and it's stuck in my mind ever since. In fact if you combined this with Stand by Me and Garden State then it could act like a coming-of-age trilogy that mirrors my life (well of a sorts...I never found a dead body!
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Year of release
2012
2012
Directed by
Stephen Chbosky
Stephen Chbosky
Written by
Stephen Chbosky
Stephen Chbosky
Starring
Logan Lerman
Emma Watson
Ezra Miller
Mae Whitman
Paul Rudd
Nina Dobrev
Logan Lerman
Emma Watson
Ezra Miller
Mae Whitman
Paul Rudd
Nina Dobrev
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Plot - Based on the novel written by Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower is about 15-year-old Charlie Kelmeckis (Logan Lerman), a shy and troubled outsider attempting to come to terms with the suicide of his best friend and his own mental illness. Some relief comes into his life when he befriends a group of self-described wallflowers that includes Patrick (Miller); a young gay man who is involved in a secret relationship with a popular athlete, and Patrick's stepsister Sam (Watson). These new connections brings some stability and happiness into Charlie's life. Before long Charlie beings to fall in love with Sam, but does not have the self-confidence to admit his feelings to her. The longer he spends with the group however the more confidence he gains as they take him under their wing and introduce him to the wider world. There are still going to be some dark times in his life however, including a revelation where we learn why Charlie has such troubles in the first place.
This film reminded me greatly of Zach Braff's 2004 effort, Garden State. Like that film I imagine that some viewers may not be all that taken with Perks, some perhaps even taking an active dislike to it. Like Garden State however I personally found watching this to be a very touching, moving and affecting experience. It's just one those films that I made a really personal connection to as I was watching it. This was largely down to how much of myself I could see in the character of Charlie. While my struggles may not have come from quite as dark a place as Charlie I certainly didn't have the happiest of experiences during my teenage years, especially when it came to my school days. Truthfully it was hell! Like the character of Charlie I suffered from social anxiety, was extremely withdrawn both in life and especially at school and for long spells I was deeply unhappy. So I was very easily able to place myself in Charlie's shoes and empathise with the character. There was one little moment in the film that just really drew me in. During English class the teacher (played winningly by Paul Rudd) is asking questions and getting no responses from the class. As he walks around the classroom however he notices that Charlie has been writing the correct answers in his notepad, but just didn't speak out in class. As I said it is a really tiny moment but it just worked for me on such a personal level. During class I would so often know the answer to something, but even if I was 99.99% sure I was correct I would never put my hand up in case I was somehow wrong or I did something stupid to attract attention to myself. I basically just tried my best to hide when at school.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower is based on the highly acclaimed debut novel of Stephen Chbosky, and with Chbosky behind the adaptation in the capacity of both writer and director, he ensures that the characters he created are treated with respect and tenderness and makes sure to focus on the messages that the film has to convey. There are a series of really lovely and touching scenes which I felt were just beautifully written and acted, while there were also some really lovely examples of dialogue, even if they could perhaps come across as pretentious to some (“We accept the love we think we deserve”). I felt that the film just captured so perfectly a number of facets of teenage life. It captures that great rush of excitement you feel when you discover a new song that you just absolutely love. You feel like it is going to change your life, and for the rest of your life you will forever associate it with a specific time and place in your existence. When you hear it on the radio it will just transport you right back. In a move similar to Stand by Me it highlights the close friendships you develop at this stage and how important they can be to your life. You really don't seem to ever form the same type of bond that you did as a kid or teenager; as was summed in Stand by Me with this quote that I love - “I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?” I think the film also highlights that emotion of feeling like a freak when you're at school. You feel like you're completely defective and different from every other single person in the world. You later discover that at one point or another it seems that everyone felt that way.
I felt that the film was extremely well acted throughout; a great ensemble effort from such a young cast. In the lead role I found Logan Lerman to be impressive and really quite affecting, giving a very touching and honest performance. He perhaps doesn't shine as brightly as some of his co-stars but I think a lot of that is down to the character being a much more difficult prospect than those around him. While they get to revel in being loud or flamboyant or flashy, Lerman's character is much quieter and more reserved, necessitating a smaller, low-key showing. It doesn't stop him from delivering a really tender and likeable performance however. As his best friend Patrick, Ezra Miller is fantastic, giving a really charismatic showing. When you couple this with his darkly magnetic (and vastly different) turn in We Need To Talk About Kevin, it really does mark Miller out as a young actor to really watch out for in the coming years. He takes the potentially clichéd character of the flamboyantly gay best friend but breathes life into it with great comic timing and sensitivity.
Film Trivia Snippets - The legendary John Hughes actually wanted to write the screenplay after he read the novel. He did acquire the rights from Chbosky but never finished the screenplay. Hughes' vision was for more of dark comedy angle with dramatic elements, and would have marked Hughes' directorial comeback. As he was writing the screenplay Hughes was picturing Shia LaBeouf for the lead role of Charlie, Kristen Dunst for Sam and Patrick Fugit for Patrick. /// Ezra Miller actually did his initial audition for Perks over Skype, and proved so charismatic in the interview that he was cast within 5 hours of the audition. /// Stephen Chbosky knew he wanted to cast Emma Watson once he saw her in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and the scene when Ron breaks her heart and Harry consoles her. Chbosky said: "She broke my heart in that scene. She is crying and I just felt that she had all of the vulnerability that Sam needed." /// During the director's commentary on the DVD and Blu-Ray, director Stephen Chbosky mentions that Dead Poet's Society and The Breakfast Club were two of his favorite films growing up and that they had a large influence on him. /// In the book, the tunnel song was "Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac but in the movie it was "Heroes" by David Bowie. Writer/Director Stephen Chbosky reportedly changed the song to something grander after seeing the footage of Emma Watson standing in the back of the truck.
As I mentioned Stephen Chbosky was both the writer and director of this film, with it being his debut on both fronts. And there are occasions where you can see it. He has apparently dropped a lot of material from the original novel, but I'd say that it perhaps isn't quite enough. A number of threads are included which don't really go anywhere and are left rather dangling come the film's end. While on the directing side of things there are a few shots here and there that are a bit scrappy. For the most part however I think he does a very capable job, one that is very impressive given his lack of experience up until this point. He delivers a series of nicely composed shots, aided greatly by some beautiful lighting. Some people may accuse the film of being a touch unrealistic in regards to the way that the young characters talk and the manner in which they interact with each other. And while there may be an element of that at work I don't think it hurt the film at all; if anything it was the exact opposite. In that respect I found it rather akin to John Hughes' seminal classic The Breakfast Club. On occasion both films may indulge in slight exaggeration, but they do so to create an overall feeling of being real, of being authentic.
While I don't believe it has made its way to our shores I'm aware of a campaign in America called 'It Gets Better.' It was a project started up to support and help young people in the LGBT community in response to high numbers of teen suicide and bullying; its aim is to provide hope for affected individuals and let them know that it does get better. If the group were to expand its goals to cover all teens who are having a tough time then The Perks of Being a Wallflower would be able to serve as a damn good poster child for the cause. It has a very positive, uplifting and life-affirming message about no matter how bad a place you are in, there is always a glimpse of hope. In the film Charlie's transition is conveyed by a sequence which sees the group driving through a tunnel listening to David Bowie's “Heroes.” As they do so he steps out onto the back of the pick-up truck, stands up and allows the wind to rush against him. It's a great expression of freedom and hope, and as they emerge from the tunnel out into the light his fortunes have been transformed. And I felt very buoyed by this aspect to the film as truthfully I still worry greatly about how my life is going to turn our and how problems are going to resolve themselves. Even though I'm a few years older than the characters portrayed in the film I think part of the reason I was so taken with it is that in a number of ways I feel I'm still at their level in terms of age and where I am in life.
Oh and lastly there's the film's soundtrack. A large part of the characters' lives and their friendships resolved around their love of music. And as such the film boasts a rather excellent soundtrack which sits comfortably alongside the similarly themed Garden State, Juno and 500 Days of Summer. It's a delightful mix of 90s hits (the film is set during the early 90s) and classic efforts from earlier decades which includes the likes of The Smiths, Dexys Midnight Runners, Sonic Youth, New Order and David Bowie. As well as just being a fun listen the soundtrack is also a nice fit for the characters and their relationships.
Conclusion - I really need to start doing more thorough investigations into the films that I'm interested in. It's becoming quite commonplace for me to go into a film with the wrong idea of what I'm in for. And this was another case. When it came to Perks I had been anticipating a more light-hearted, romantic indie-comedy in the vein of Juno, Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, 500 Days of Summer etc. Instead I was treated to a film that had a great deal more depth and substance to it, that was significantly more serious and lighter on laughs than expected, but was probably all the better for it. I found it be a well written, affectingly acted film that just really touched me on a personal level. You'll sometimes really enjoy a film but as soon as the closing credits begin to roll you immediately forget about it. This was the opposite of that. As it finished I just sat there for a while absorbing it, and it's stuck in my mind ever since. In fact if you combined this with Stand by Me and Garden State then it could act like a coming-of-age trilogy that mirrors my life (well of a sorts...I never found a dead body!
)