The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)

Some weeks I really do have trouble deciding what I want to write about amongst the various films I have watched.

For example this past week I viewed four relatively early silents: "The Penalty" (1920) with Lon Chaney's evil mastermind zooming about on the stumps of two legs, "The Cheat" (1915) a DeMille flick with a flighty society dame being branded by wily Oriental Sessue Hayakawa (always charismatic) from whom she has borrowed money, "Manslaughter" (1922) another DeMille morality tale of yet another flighty society dame finding redemption in prison, and possibly best of all "Hell's Hinges" (1916) in which the director/star William S. Hart's carefree gunslinger finds religion through his love of a woman. Any or all of these would have sparked some lively discussion.

Then there was the rather belated follow-up to the 1995 Oscar winner for best foreign language movie "Burnt by the Sun", a charming and lyrical tale of love and betrayal in Russia in the 1930s. Its director-star Nikita Mikhalkov eventually churned out "Burnt by the Sun 2" as a two-parter, released in 2010 and 2011, titled "Exodus" and "Citadel" respectively and totalling a bum-numbing five hours! They continue the story of his disgraced and imprisoned general through World War II and believe you me they took some watching! Nicely filmed but a gruelling watch without much light relief from the mud-strewn battlefields of the first film -- although the movie improved mightily in the second half of the second film as it moved towards its relatively happy ending. Yes, I could have written about that...

However the film that impressed me most this past week is the coming-of-age story of the above title. Writer-director Stephen Chbosky has adapted his own best-selling novel of 1999, which has apparently replaced "Catcher in the Rye" as the cult go-to textbook for teenaged angst. This film is not just aimed at the high school crowd, but at any adult who can recall either with fondness or perhaps with horror their own teens. It touches on loneliness, bullying, mental illness, drugs, homosexuality, and even death.

Lead actor Logan Lerman's Charlie enters high school wondering how he will get through the next four years. He's not hoping to be popular or to outshine his fellow students or to get laid, he just wants to fit in and get on with his life, having, it is suggested, been treated for various mental problems triggered by the death of his favourite aunt. Lerman has been featured in movies since the age of eight, and although he was actually 20 when this film was made, he looks the naïve and innocent freshman. He is befriended by a group of seniors, led by step-siblings Ezra Miller's Patrick and Emma Watson's Sam. Now maybe things have changed a lot since my own high school days, but it was pretty much unheard of for a freshman to hang about with and be accepted by a group of seniors, even if they were all outsiders themselves.

Never mind, that's the story being told and the young actors all do an excellent job. This was the breakout role for Watson after the Harry Potter franchise with only a small part in "My Week with Marilyn" (2011) in between. She was actually 22 playing a 17-year old, but she acquitts herself well. However the biggest revelation is Miller, the Kevin in "We Need to Talk About Kevin", who swaggers through his role of the group's iconoclastic leader and unashamed gay. In contrast, the adults in the cast barely register. There is Dylan McDermott as Charlie's father, Melanie Lynskey as the dead aunt whose death also buries a secret, Joan Cusack as his therapist, and Tom Savini as the sadistic shop-teacher who calls Patrick 'Nothing'. Only Paul Ruud adds to the action in his role of the caring English teacher who recognizes the depths of Charlie's intellect and longings.

Although he actually directed a little-known Indie back in 1995, this is Chbosky's first mainstream movie and he has done a wonderful job of bringing his book to the screen. Set in Pittsburgh in 1991, everything evokes the period -- the dress, the décor, and especially the music. We care for all of the young characters that we meet despite their flaws. However, one does wonder how Charlie will get on in his sophomore, junior, and senior years, now that his protective circle has moved on to college. Chbosky implies that his protagonist has learned a lot of life lessons -- more than most high-schoolers -- in that first trying year and that he will successfully move on upwards in his own idiosyncratic way. We do wish him all the best...