In the days following The Perks of Being a Wallflower, I simply could not grasp its brilliance, to the extent that I was left gasping for air in a semi-depressive/happy state. The scripting and dialogue were beautiful, and the characterisation and casting came together so perfectly it was suffocating. An incredible package of quirky humour, original themes and general splendor, all topped off by the bow that was the incredible 70's soundtrack.… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Wow this movie was amazing! It captures what's its like to be a freshman in high school. About trying to fit in and enjoy life! Charlie(main character) is a freshman that had a rough childhood and recently his best friend kills himself. He's lonely. Then he meets Sam & Patrick(Sam's step brother) are 2 seniors that take him under their wing and accept him for who he is. Charlie eventually falls for Sam which is his first crush. The movie shows how their relationship unfolds throughout the film. This movie isn't your typical high school movie. Anyone can relate to this movie which makes it so great. Go see it! You definitely won't be disappointed.… Expand

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a great coming of age film. Those that have read the book will not be disappointed (I wasn't and I've read this book more than I can count.) Stephen Chbosky makes obvious cuts where needed to make the film flow more consistently but still hits all the major plot points within the book. Emma Watson and Logan Lerman do a great job portraying these characters. Logan Lerman blew me away in his best performance yet. As many others have said, this film will be a cult classic for those who haven't read the book Those who have will be glad they saw the film to really appreciate Chbosky's story in all forms of art.… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Seated at a cafe table for one, a beautiful, young woman, unaccountably lonely, peruses and pines over a comic book, and its handsome male hero. The music video for A-ha's "Take on Me" is the ultimate geek fantasy: the blond seems to have a fondness for an illustrated world over the real one, just like any introverted fanboy. The protagonist, as it turns out, a Norwegian protagonist, without explanation, blinks at the Londoner single, as the comic panel loses its static purpose, when the graphic hero reciprocates the customer's **** of the crush object with a crush of his own, and extends an open invitation to the startled reader, who nevertheless, grabs the hand protruding from the ephemeral page, and enters the diegesis of pencil sketches, suddenly made fluid by the alchemic properties of synth-pop music. In 1985, every sad, maladjusted boy wanted to be A-ha frontman Morten Harket, because that's how a wallflower could be heroic, by saving a damsel in distress from rival motorcyclists armed with pipe wrenches from the safety of a debauchery-free bedroom, alone with his Martha Quinn sex fantasies. Wallflowers get older. Some survive their awkward teenage years, and bloom, like Charlie undoubtedly will, in The Perks of Being a Wallflower, while others, such as Jorge, a morbidly shy dishwasher, will not, ever, in Steve Barron's Choking Man, a micro-indie that shows how ostracized children grow up to be ostracized children. Barron, the filmmaker who helmed "Take on Me", references his music video past, in a scene where Jorge's enemy, the restaurant manager, who delights in torturing the monosyllabic dishwasher about his aloofness, breaks into a mocking rendition of Kajagoogoo's "Too Shy", another early MTV classic. Again, animation is employed, but this time, the optimism, in regard to love, found in "Take on Me" has given way to resignation, and finally, vehemence. No wallflower, struggling through his adolescence, would want to co-opt Jorge's constipated ideas about love. His cartoon bunny rabbits won't even rub noses. Jorge doesn't dare, perhaps, since he knows the cute Chinese waitress could never love him back. For sure, the schizophrenia doesn't help, but the real reason that prevents him from competing with Steve for Aimee's heart is his ramshackle appearance, whereas Charlie, despite being saddled with PSTD, earns Sam's love because the unformed freshman more than offsets his emotional problems with an appealing visage. Charlie is less a nerd than unathletic. At the outset, he suffers the indignity of eating alone in the school cafeteria, but you're never worried for him. That's why the budding writer comes off as whiny and disingenuous when he expresses a concern about not making friends to his teacher. He's good-looking.. Soon enough, Sam, and her half-brother Patrick, take Charlie under their wing, and introduces him to people, self-described as castaways on "the island of misfit toys", wallflowers all. He finds his tribe. The film, and the Steven Chbosky novel it's based on, thankfully, avoids the shortcut of outfitting the nerd with glasses, like, for instance, Dawn Wiener, the president of the Special People Club, in Welcome to the Dollhouse. Whereas the misfits find each other and stick together at Charlie's school, in the Todd Solondz film, the estranged outcasts at Dawn's junior high estrange themselves from each other, choosing to go it alone rather than garner strength in numbers. Here, the weak pick on the weaker, like when Troy, pinned against his locker by the resident 7th grade bullies, lashes out at Dawn for defending him. "Leave me alone, Wiener Dog," he grumbles, humiliated, doubly, since the girl who saves him is perceived as ugly. But even the consensus school pariah, the plucked to death wallflower, has a cruel streak, evoking Groucho Marx's famous quote: "I don't care to belong to any club that will have me as a member," when Ralphie, a charter, and only member of Dawn's social organization, hears himself being called an "a**hole" and a host of other obscenities, as Missy tries to get her older sister to take his phone call. Unlike Charlie, there is no midnight screenings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show" with friends, or being told by a girl that your first kiss should come from somebody who really loves you. Dawn has to settle for a sad night in her clubhouse with a boy, who in the way of introduction, tells her that he's going to rape her, as they stare at the night sky while Debbie Gibson's "Lost in Your Eyes" plays on a cheap tape recorder. Sam kisses Charlie because he has a naif-like animal magnetism. His predecessor, Lucas(from the 1986 film starring Corey Haim), does not, and as a result, Maggie, a cheerleader, rebuffs the younger boy's clumsy attempt at romance, by turning her lips away from his. When you're a wallflower that often gets confused for a weed, there are no perks.… Expand

For the purpose of reviewing this rather serious and at times quite sad movie, I decided to write about

It's a film with a purely delicate, showing us how scary high school can be, and how powerful it can be to have at your side, people who love him.

I love this movie, I honestly cannot find anything I hate about it.

I can honestly admit, I'm a guy and I cried during this movie. PLEASE EVERYONE GO WATCH THIS IT'S PERFECT 10/10

You feel the love and joy and emotion that Charlie goes through during the film. Fabulous acting and was very relatable to my own life and struggles.

The trailer makes this movie look like a quirky and light teen flick a la Juno, but it's a serious movie that deals with important issues elegantly. The writer/director introduced the film to my theater, which, to my surprise, included about 50 younger people who had read his book. I had no idea it was so popular. I can see this movie having a similar appeal to teenagers to today that a film like Dead Poets Society had for my generation. Emma Watson and Ezra Miller are outstanding, and the supporting actors including Melanie Lynskey and Paul Rudd are perfectly cast. It's one of the better movies I've seen this year.… Expand

This movie was even more amazing than the book. It couldn't not have been a better decision to have the author direct the movie. It followed the book immensely well and captured the feeling of wonder you get when you read the book. It reminded me how great and how horrible high school was. It was great to see such a powerful movie made about a fellow 'wallflower.' Humor has perfect timing and benefited the dialogue. Overall an amazing movie I will not soon forget.… Collapse

"And in this moment I swear, we are infinite."

Charlie (Lerman) is a wallflower. About to start his first day of high school he begins writing letters to an unknown "friend," unleashing his fears and worries, most of which can be summed up with the revelation that the only people he's spoken to all summer are his family. In addition to being a wallflower, Charlie is also a person with no friends. That all changes when Charlie meets two seniors, Patrick (Miller) and Sam (Watson), who invite him into their group of friends. Each member, like Charlie, is eccentric and has their own slew of issues, with The Perks of Being a Wallflower detailing the way in which they come to deal with at least some of them.

Perks is so much more than your typical coming of age drama or teen romance. It's a dark film, based on a dark book, and nicely handles the many themes present within it. I don't really want to go into the details too much, because I think if I did I would risk spoiling the movie, but I will say that while Perks deals with typical high school issues - school, fitting in, first love, etc - it also deals with much more adult issues - death and abuse being the big ones. Each of the younger characters is struggling to figure themselves out, be they a major character or a more minor one. At first it's a bit hard to realize this, that even the "popular" kids - portrayed primarily through Charlie's elder sister, Candace (Nina Dobrev), and football player Brad (Johnny Simmons) - are struggling to figure themselves out, but by the end of the movie it's clear that they're all in the same position, even if they haven't all been through the same things.

The thing that really makes this movie great, however, is the acting in itself. There's kind of two divisions in this movie; the group that gets more focus and the group that is more sidelined - this can also be seen as Charlie's friends versus Charlie's family. Lerman portrays his role absolutely perfectly. I read an interview of Chbosky's where he said "It… Expand

It's often quite hilarious while also hard-hitting, heartfelt, visually stunning, and completely engaging - the most honest, genuine John Hughes movie that John Hughes never made, seemingly pieced together (almost perfectly) with hot tips from big names in the indie spotlight.

This movie is just perfect. The music, the acting, the script, the plot, the way they decided to make it, just everything. Just in a few parts you can feel it a little slow, but in the end everything worth it. Emma and Logan have chemestry and that is seen. But by far, the one who just made it absolutely perfect, was Ezra Miller. He showed us he can make us hate him in "We Need To Talk About Kevin", but in this movie you just cannot love him.… Expand

This film was such an amazing and well written film. this has to be one of the best films of romance and drama of this year (in my point of view) for those who love a great chick flick this is the movie to see :)

Just when I started thinking how different a teenage drama could be; how complicated things could be; how many topics could be adjusted in a single plot; how much emotional a teenage movie could be; a person named Stephen Chbosky came up and blew my mind away with his surprising vision. Written and directed by Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower is an exceptional coming-of-age film, even one of the best I have watched this year. Why do I consider it one of the best? Film's storyline, its characters and their brilliant performances, the narration and those funny, emotional and uplifting moments spread throughout the film. Talking about the characters, the main characters include Charlie Kelmeckis (played by Logan Lerman) who is a shy, socially awkward and unpopular high school student who lost his best friend recently but he is also sensitive and a serious thinker which makes him different from others. Logan Lerman has played the role really well, regardless of your age, you can feel connected to him and feel his emotions, making it the best peformance of Logan so far. His friends Patrick (played by Ezra Miller) and Sam (played by Emma Watson) are the ones who change his life in a certain way. Both of them give wonderful performances, Watson never disappoints me, whatever role is given to her, she does it extremely well. Ezra Miller's performance is also quite strong, I liked it a lot. He is funny, he makes everyone laugh but deep down, he is depressed and not a lot of people know about it. All of the characters in the film are likeable, whether they are positive or negative, the film's environment is wonderful, I felt really great while watching it. I haven't read the novel so I don't know how much both the movie and the novel vary from each other but I'm completely satisfied as a movie lover, it did the magic for me, it moved me emotionally, it is powerful and soft at the same time. I have decided that the Perks of Being a Wallflower is one of the best films of the year.… Expand

Really, this is a great film; it revolves around a high school freshman who has trouble gaining friends, due to his introverted nature. When he makes an effort to try and change this, he meets our 2 other main characters; classy extroverts, who find out about his troubles, and take it upon themselves to improve his life.

The movie explores the nature of psychology, and social structures, and unless you're bigoted or can't enjoy anything, the characters that are meant to be likeable, are very much so. Better yet, the movie even has you on your toes at least once.

Not movie of the year or anything of that sort, but still a very good film, and something that is quite enjoyable to watch.… Expand

Perks rises above your average teen coming-of-age flick by delivering us grown-up drama and well timed, heartfelt humor. The characters are so unique and fun to watch that we can't help but fall in love with them.

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I am going to keep it short and simple and say that this film is beautiful, it's a comfortable length long, you can grow to love the main character Charlie but this film will also make you cry, the sadness and depression Charlie has through his life is so moving but in the end this film is a real heart warmer… Expand

I have found my new favorite movie. Personally, I can relate to the characters. It's not very realistic. But then again, when are movies ever really realistic? It's sort of cliche, but there are many things that surprise you. The acting is exceptional, the soundtracks are not Top 40, and it has a deep meaning.

The movie works hand in hand with the novel; as the novel is written in first person accounts in letter format, it lacks in dialogue. This movie brilliantly directed by the author gets to give you those moments and let you live them first hand, whilst still keeping the persona's of the characters true. Brilliant film/direction/cast/soundtrack. all we need now is a directors cut to live through the entire novel.… Expand

I would call this a modern day Breakfast Club kind of movie. I thought the plot was interesting and the acting was solid. The bad stuff "drug use, etc..." was not over the top. I think you will enjoy this one.

This wasn't just a coming-of-age film in regards to the story, but also for the actors and actresses involved in what could be one of the best films of the year.
Charlie (Logan Lerman) is narrating the film as he enters high school, but he finds difficulty making new friends, only managing to speak friendly to his English teacher, Mr Anderson (Paul Rudd).
He soon builds the confidence to speak to Patrick (Ezra Miller), an eccentric but likeable senior, at this point Charlie is introduced to Patrick's stepsister, Sam (Emma Watson), he is immediately attracted to and begins to spend more time with the two as they embark on an adventure of self-discovery and the hardship of growing up.
The film moves at a feel-good pace that is hard to find flaw with, the characters are immediately likeable, even though they hold onto to personal woes and secrets, but when they merge as one, the film truly comes alive, with each character and talent playing them stepping out and being free, Miller is no longer a psychotic bow and arrow wielder from We Need to Talk About Kevin, Lerman no longer a demigod of Percy Jackson fame, nor is Watson, who does a wonderful turn as the beautiful Sam, leaving her Harry Potter days long behind her, each actor signifying their intention to move on.
Wallflower is certainly not without its drama though, and it does play out a little differently than a typical adolescent movie, but the film is carefully written so that it doesn't follow the same path involving drugs, sex and school, but subtly hints at all of the above, but at the same time creating an engaging story as to how these characters grow to rely on each other and their necessity to be different.
This attempt at difference involves a catchy and nostalgic soundtrack that will have you screaming the tunes as you watch the film. Where the film truly succeeds is its emotional journey of character development and personal achievements. The powerful performances of the three leads will have you engrossed from start to finish, they truly embrace their roles and let themselves enjoy the moment, and with an emotional climax that could just bring a tear to your eye, it certainly is an unexpected yet properly realistic and grounded ending that is heartfelt and touching.
A feel-good and emotionally romantic journey of self-discovery, with plenty of drama and laughs that add up to an extremely enjoyable, well-written and fantastically acted film.… Expand

This film blew me away. From the great script to the outstanding performances, this film is one of the best of 2012. The three leads bring out a very realistic sense of teenage problems (Ezra Miller being my favorite). It's also good to see Paul Rudd in a different kind of role as the teacher.

Charlie is a shy freshman who has just started High School. He has never felt watched to anyone besides his best friend who recently committed suicide and his aunt who was killed in a road traffic collision on his 7th birthday. When he befriends two seniors though his world is turned upside down, he finally feels accepted and as if he has friends. He gets a new best friend in the form of Patrck a homosexual class clown, and his step-sister Sam who he falls in love with. However due to complications in all of their lives things start to spiral rapidly downhill for all three of them they realise they must confront their demons that they thought they had buried and make themselves better people from it.
The Perks of Being A Wallflower is the best feel good film I have ever seen, it deals with a huge amount of social and moral issues perfectly and knits them together with a great story, believable characters and a well picked cast. Wallflower is one of 2012's must see films… Expand

This film is so beautiful. It's perceptibly different from the novel, but I think it's a perfect adaption probably because of the fact that the author of the TPOBAW novel, Stephen Chbosky, did write the screenplay to the movie as well and even directed it. And he was successful. The cast is so right and the dialogues are fantastic. There are so many magnificent things about this movie, i.e. the awesome soundtrack or the beautiful pictures of the night, but my tiny issue with this film is the same that I had with the novel: the ending does seem a bit out of place. Though I have to say that the ending was way better than in the novel mainly because it just appears better with flashbacks and this wonderful score in the background. It's one excellent movie and not only for wallflowers.… Expand

Easily the best 'coming of age' film I've seen and it's lead by three solid performances from the main players. For me it hit close to home on so many levels so I was always going to relate to it, and it will probably be one of my all-time favourite films for a while. There is so much to like about this film and the story that is told with it, but as mentioned it really is the performances that makes it what it is. Overall nothing short of amazing and a movie I would strong recommend.… Expand

It feels like a blast from the past for me, who grew up with the book, and felt it was very relatable and true to life. Every character is cast perfectly, and the film is beyond effective. Loved every minute.

Absolutely perfect. Logan's Emma's & Ezraa's performance are great. I was so moved during the whole movie. It was a long time since I saw a movie like this. That makes me cry, makes me wanna fall in love, makes me happy, makes me wanna be a better person. And the message of the movie it's so strong.