I was so in love with the book The Perks of Being a Wallflower that I made the 45-minute trek to Hartford, Conn., with some friends a couple weeks ago when its movie adaptation was only released in select theaters.
You may ask why we were so determined to see this movie; it’s a simple answer: The novel is so entrapping and relatable, that it automatically grabs onto your heart strings. We all fell in love with the book and wanted to fall in love with the movie.
Being so attached to the novel though, which is set in the 1990s and is written in letters, I was skeptical on how it would be adapted and how it would stay close to the novel. Let’s just say I was ready to hate the movie if it didn’t live up to the book. I wasn’t disappointed, though, as Stephen Chobsky, author of the book, also directed the movie and wrote the screenplay.
Because of this, Chobsky was able to adapt the movie in such ways that it flowed well and made sense, yet still retained the nineties vibe and held true to the characteristics and attitudes of each character.
Charlie, the misguided and severely messed up freshman, is played by Logan Lerman. While Lerman does look a little too old to be a freshman, he captures the awkward nature of Charlie perfectly. He holds true to Charlie’s wallflower quality and eloquently delivers classic lines from the novel.
Emma Watson plays the could-be-cool-but-chooses-to-be-a-misfit senior, Sam. She portrays Sam perfectly as she puts on a strong front, only allowing those close to her to see how broken she really is.
Patrick, Sam’s gay step-brother and fellow senior, is played by Ezra Miller. Miller steals most of the scenes with his exuberant personality and incredibly hilarious one-liners. Yet, he still shows a soft and broken side when the situation presents itself, and his friendship with Charlie is like no other.
Some of the storylines were dropped or simplified, such as those containing Charlie’s sister and his English teacher, to compress the length of the movie. The deeper expressed connections between the main characters made up for it though, along with new aspects added to clarify scenarios.
Another thing that was diluted in the movie was some of the context. While in the book sex, molestation, and drugs, such as LSD, are explicitly talked about, the content of such scenes had to be cut or less descriptive to retain the films PG-13 rating.
All in all, the movie didn’t disappoint as the modern day teen novel, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, was made into the perfect modern day teen movie. It contains experiences teens go through daily but also has darker undertones that provide thought provoking moments and realizations.
The main characters of Charlie, Sam, and Patrick along with the supporting cast work together beautifully and create a touching movie that will have you leaving the theater in an awestruck silence.
