The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Rating: 6/10 (3 April 2013)

I saw the lead actress, famous as Hermoine Granger in the Harry Potter film series, on a chat show about this film, and obviously I was keen to see if, like Daniel Radcliffe in The Woman in Black and Rupert Grint in Driving School, she could escape into other projects, directed by Stephen Chbosky, based on his own book. Basically nervous and shy Charlie Kelmeckis (Percy Jackson & the Lightning Thief's Logan Lerman) is a new freshman student in his high school; he makes no attempt to get to know many people, and in class doesn't want to come across as a teacher's pet with his good knowledge. He does befriend Patrick (We Need to Talk about Kevin's Ezra Miller) and his beautiful stepsister Sam (Emma Watson), they take him to a football game, a high school dance and a house party, and unwittingly eating a brownie filled with cannabis he gets intoxicated and admits that his best friend committed suicide a year ago. Sam realises he has no other friends, so he becomes part of the group, and he agrees to help her achieve the results she needs to enter Pennsylvania State University, helping her prepare for her SAT exams, and he confirms his feelings for her seeing her standing in the back of the pickup tunnel while they do through a tunnel listening to a song ("Heroes" by David Bowie) that they call "The Tunnel Song". Christmas comes and Secret Santa night is organised by the group, though he is not her secret Sam gives Charlie a vintage typewriter, and alone in her bedroom they talk more intimately about relationships, he reveals he has never been kissed, and she reveals kissing her father's boss at the age of eleven, but she wants her first real kiss to be with someone she loves, and she kisses Charlie. While he watches in the audience, Sam, Patrick and their friends perform regularly at screenings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, acting out the film, one night Sam's college boyfriend Craig (Reece Thompson) is unavailable, so Charlie takes his place, and following the Sadie Hawkins dance as well Mary Elizabeth (Independence Day's Mae Whitman) take him to her house and they kiss, she assumes he is now her boyfriend. Although growing irritated by her, with her dominating, constant phone calls and not allowing him to speak much, Charlie doesn't want to break up and hurt her feelings, but during a game of Truth or Dare, without thinking, a dare to kiss the most beautiful girl in the room goes awry when he kisses Sam, Mary Elizabeth says it is over and Sam is also furious with him. While Charlie is in isolation, allowing things to cool down and staying away, he has flashbacks of his Aunt Helen (Heavenly Creatures' Melanie Lynskey) being killed in a car accident when he was seven years old, Patrick and his secret love Brad (Johnny Simmons) break up after being caught by Brad's father together, and after he calls Patrick a "fag" to stop friends thinking they are friend a fight breaks out between them. Charlie intervenes in this fight, but black out and has no memory of the moment just before the fight stopped, only seeing his bruised knuckles and Brad's friends in pain on the floor, and he helps up Patricks giving Brad a cold warning, they reconcile, and outside he gets the chance to make up with Sam as well, there is a moment when Patrick kisses him as well, but this is forgotten about. A letter comes to Sam from Pennsylvania State University, they have accepted her and she must go to a summer introductory program, meaning she must leave immediately, so she breaks up with Craig, as he was cheating on her, and the night before she leaves she and Charlie go into her room, they confess things and kiss each other, but he pulls away when she touches his thigh. The next morning, following his goodbyes to Sam and Patrick he goes empty and has severe flashbacks of his Aunt Helen and her death, he calls her sister to talk about it, blaming himself for what happened, she thinks he is suicidal and calls the police, and after passing out he wakes in hospital. It is revealed by psychiatrist Dr. Burton (Joan Cusack) to his parents that as a child his aunt sexually abused him, he repressed the memories because he loved her, and she was driving to get something meant for him, so he undergoes therapy, and eventually recovers and is allowed to return home. Charlie is visited by Sam and Patrick, she explains about her new college life, and she plays "The Tunnel Song" which she has found and put onto a cassette, and they revisit the same tunnel, where Charlie and Sam kiss, and he is the one who stands in the back of the truck, he acknowledges feeling more alive than ever. Also starring Kate Walsh as Mother, Miracle on 34th Street's Dylan McDermott as Father, Paul Rudd as Mr. Anderson and Nina Dobrev as Candace. I should start by saying that the word "wallflower" means: person who, because of shyness, unpopularity, or lack of a partner, remains at the side at a party or dance; a clever word, a flower on a wall is something you wouldn't look twice at, so that sums up the lead character. Lerner is terrific as the quiet and troubled teenager given a taste of what it is like to really live, Miller gets his moments as the secretly gay friend, and Rudd as the inspirational teacher is likable, but Watson does almost steal the show as the beautiful, quirky and fun-loving girl who the lead character blossoms love with. The characters are all well put together, the sentimentality, small moments of comedy and ultimately the love story mix well, it really is convincing as being like from the perspective of a young person, a worthwhile coming-of-age romantic drama. Good!