I saw this film a little by accident and although I wasn’t
as impressed with it as some others, I’m glad I saw it. We went to the cinema
to see Liberal Arts but after just
five days on release, it had been pulled by my local multiplex so we chose Wallflower instead. Charlie (Logan
Lerman) is nervous about starting his first day of High School and is already
counting down the days until he can graduate. He is smart and shy and has had a
tumultuous twelve months which only added to an already painful life. On his
first day he manages to avoid trouble but makes just one friend, his English
teacher (Paul Rudd) who spots something in Charlie and gives him extra work to
do at home. A few weeks into the school year though Charlie starts to become
friendly with step siblings Patrick (Ezra Miller) and Sam (Emma Watson) which
leads to a year of ups and downs on his road to manhood.
I’d describe The Perks
of Being a Wallflower as a grower, not a shower. I found the opening few
minutes difficult to enjoy and had little to relate to the main characters but
as it opened up it really grew on me and I found it charming. It’s as good a
High School film as I’ve seen this year and contains some nice messages and
great performances.
