As I watched The Perks of Being a Wallflower, a fine movie with some very strong performances, I realized that I'm just not the target audience for movies like this. You see, I'm just not one of those people who's life was defined by what happened in high school. So, throughout the movie, I kept hoping that the story about a group of high school misfits would expand into later years -- that we'd at least get an epilogue or something.
My wish didn't come true. The movie is entirely about high school, which wouldn't be a bad thing or even all that remarkable if it didn't take itself and its characters lives so seriously.
Perks is based on the semi-autobiographical novel by Stephen Chbosky, who also wrote and directed the movie. It follows the story of Charlie (played by Logan Lerman), an awkward high school freshman still mourning the suicide of his best friend and coming to terms with traumatic events surrounding his favorite aunt.
Charlie begins his high school days feeling invisible until he's befriended by a group of seniors, led by Patrick (played by Ezra Miller) and his stepsister Sam (played by Emma Watson). For Charlie, these friends represent a totally different world, wherein emotional problems aren't just ignored -- like they appear to be with his family -- and where high school worries about popularity and social status don't mean a damn thing.
The film manages to hit most of the right emotional notes along the way, anchored by a solid performance by Lerman. Charlie is an emotional wreck, dealing with bouts of what depression and suicidal thoughts. It would have been easy for a young actor to ham all that up, but Lerman manages a subtle and nuanced performance.
Miller is simply excellent. He is the embodiment of the alternative high school universe Charlie and his friends inhabit. The most intriguing subplot of the whole movie involves Patrick's secret relationship with a popular member of the football team. This story provides far more emotional heft than is typically associated with the token gay characters in other movies and TV shows about high school. It was refreshing.
Out of the gate, this movie got attention for being Emma Watson's first movie in the post-Harry Potter world. She's does a fine job, though her role doesn't have the weight of either Lerman or Miller's. This movie is not likely to be a bellwether for her career outside of Hogwarts, that will have to come later.
As you can see, I liked this movie. I don't have any significant complaints other than it's focus is entirely on high school. Most people look back on high school and wonder why they took everything so seriously. The Perks of Being a Wallflower would lead you to believe that such feelings are unwarranted, that the emotional torments of our teen years are everlasting and that the self-seriousness is all justified.
That may work for some people and, for the purpose of telling the story, it works for this movie. I was just disappointed that the story ended there. It would have been far more interesting to see what kinds of people these characters became once they left the events of this movie behind.
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