DIRECTOR: Stephen Chbosky

CAST: Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, Ezra Miller, Mae Whitman, Paul Rudd, Dylan McDermott, Kate Walsh, Nina Dobrev, Melanie Lynskey, Joan Cusack

REVIEW:

Perks of Being a Wallflower, adapted from the book by Stephen Chbosky, who also wrote the screenplay and directed the film version, is part of a heavily-populated genre—the “coming-of-age” story, and like many of them, it focuses on the outsiders and non-conformists who spent high school on the outside looking in. There are moments of truth that recall those in cinematic cousins like Fast Times at Ridgemont High (though Perks of Being a Wallflower is more serious), The Breakfast Club, and others, but Perks of Being a Wallflower has enough to offer on its own to make it feel fresh. The characters, situations, and emotions don’t feel forced or over-the-top, and there’s a wry, subdued humor that keeps things from getting too melancholy (although there’s some of that too) without exaggerating for comedic effect. It’s poignant, funny, bittersweet, warmhearted, and nostalgic—just like a lot of people’s memories of high school. The lead characters have their eccentricities, but a lot of their experiences will strike cords of memory with many viewers, speaking to the universality of some things about high school.

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