Film: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Director: Stephen Chbosky
Genre: Drama
Source: USA (2012)
Rating: PG-13
Location/Format: Blu-ray
Grade: A-

I was introduced to Perks first as a novel by one of my students, who recommended it to me as her favorite book. It didn't really click with me then; I found it a little self-satisfied, overly sentimental, and a little bit facile, as YA lit often is. So I absolutely understand while this film would not click with a lot of people.

But the film worked really came together for me. Maybe it was my fondness for Emma Watson and my surprise at Logan Lerman (I've heard the name, and seen movies he's in, even, but never noticed him until now). Maybe it was that I recognized some of my friends in these characters (though I can't really say I saw myself). Maybe it was the solid soundtrack of early 90s rock. But I thought Chbosky's story worked better here than it did in the text. (Speaking of the director, he must really be afraid to let anyone else get their hands on this story; it's not often you see a writer direct his own adaptation. A bit of a control freak?) There are definitely moments that fall flat--the Rocky Horror bits were silly, and the "cool friends" he finds are a little too smug in their outsider status at times. And I was a little annoyed how everyone talks about what a great writer Charlie's going to be, but we don't really get a sense of why.

Still, I also think there was a little bit of authenticity to the mid-American life being presented here, and the way everything--things that really are big, and things that won't matter even a few weeks later--feels like the most important thing in the world as a teenager. I like that. I like the tunnel scene, cheesy as it may be. I like lines like, "We accept the love we think we deserve." I see why that resonates with teenagers in the same way John Green's books do today, because there's enough truth in them to really change your view of the world when you're fifteen. Working around teenagers all the time, I see them looking for those ideas to hang their hearts on, for better or for worse, and I like that Chbosky is trying to be sincere with that.

It worked, and I didn't really expect it to. So I have to give credit for that.

Alternate Film Title: "I Miss Mixtapes"