A little masterpiece, incredibly touching

Rating: Null/10 (11 December 2012)

I never read the book this film is based on. It was never on my radar to watch. It wasn't a film I was even planning to see. And guess what? It turned out to be a gem of high proportions.
Now, the cast here is all wonderful, and the three leads all work perfectly. Miller and Watson are great, and the former has some really great scenes that would definitely put him in my Supporting Actor line- up. But the real star here is Logan Lerman. I don't have any say on how he portrayed the character in the novel, but what he did here amazed me to no end. His ability to reflect so many of his characters' past with such simple glances is incredible. It would have been so easy to make the silent-type lead teenage boy feel lazy or uninspired, and even in a lessor actor's hands it could have felt that way. But Lerman is mesmerizing from start to finish, never once hitting a false note or detaching himself from the emotional weight his character is living under. This is one of the best teenage performances I've ever seen, and as of right now easily the best performance of the year. Granted, I haven't seen most of the awards contenders, but this is truly incredible stuff and Lerman has enormous talent that I really hope carries him through a long and successful career.
These kinds of films are always hard to navigate exactly. It's kind of hard to not fall into clichés or stereotypes. At first glance it seems like there's nothing that makes this stand apart from other films of this kind. Granted, I don't watch many that are under this specific genre simply because they never seem like anything out of the ordinary. So to be as moved by the film as I was, for it to have emotionally touched me the way it did is a huge surprise. Technically this isn't some high achievement, but there is no other film as emotionally rich this year. The characters and story lines all work in marvelous ways. I can't even say that some of it wasn't familiar territory because most of it verges on what we have seen before. And it's not perfect, some of the dialogue at times is a bit clunky, some of the plot mechanics. But it all comes together to create what is to me, a deeply, deeply personal film. I connected with the characters in ways I forgot were possible. There have been many great films in recent years, but I don't think there's been one that has reminded me of who I am as a person or who I was, what my life has been like, what life in general is like, this much. I always dread sentimentality, and if anything I am easily put off by any kind of emotional manipulation. But this is the only film in a long time that really was trying to be as emotionally investing as it could be, and one that never hit any real false notes when it came to the emotions it stirred in me.
I've always said that as great as any story lines or characters are in observing a film you've seen, the art of film is ultimately a medium of feeling, just like any other art form. And this is why I haven't mentioned, really, any of the plot. Being able to talk about how it made me feel is enough, and this is a film where the emphasis on the word "feel" is all but deserved. This is a small gem of a film, but as rich of an experience as one could hope for. The best film of 2012.