"I gave her my heart, she gave me a typewriter."

Rating: 10/10 (5 January 2013)

"The Perks of Being a Wallflower" wins the heart of many viewers seeking a film with genuine teen melodrama. Sure, the concept of the film may be hackneyed, but with a bolstered star-power from the casts, and a plausible script, it surpasses another coming-for-age substance on the silver screen. Filmed in the traditional John Hughes and Cameron Crowe style, it's probably nostalgic for some, but nevertheless overwhelming and heartfelt. I never been this instantly hooked for a teen drama film like this before, it's like everything about the genre is getting so much better as the year passes by. Though it's the last teen movie for 2012 to be a clever one, it's impossible to look for a film like this for another year or two.
Logan Lerman plays as Charlie, a young man who's pressured for his first day in high school. He's subtle but rather awkward in making friends. As any teen that has new doors to go in, Logan partakes a test in high school life. His first and the only closest friend on his earlier days where his English teacher Mr. Anderson (Paul Rudd). They're both connected in the same page, and they're also indebted in reading the classics.
Not long after Charlie's melancholic episode, he befriends one of his classmates named Patrick during a football game. Patrick is a funny senior student with an offbeat humor. And then later on, his step-sister Sam (Emma Watson). The trio have made an intimate friendship ever since, and that's the obvious part. Charlie has had the impression that Patrick and Sam were a couple, but Sam explains that they weren't. So what unfolds is that Charlie will start to get in love with Sam. In addition, Patrick turns out to be gay and is in love with a football jock (Johnny Simmons).
Before Charlie starts getting the ideal attention, there were fleeting series of flashbacks about his aunt which died in a car accident. Charlie have been bearing the pain ever since, so he has been acting very differently. But all of this he can't forget. Instead, he relied on the support of being a wallflower among his friend. This has become immediately effective because of the sympathizing monument.
"Perks" is a strong film about strong characters which thoroughly exists beyond our own self. Part of me tells that the narrative is impossible to resist. It's embedded with nuances and dramatization which we can recognize easily. It can make you cry, pitiful, and make you develop this longing which the characters feel to maintain their friendship together. There is one scene in the film where I consider really sweet and sublime: Where Charlie and Sam develop a sense of hesitation but turns out that Sam really wants to love him at their brief moment alone together.
I felt for the actors' persona on-screen. Logan Lerman, whom the last well known project to be the Percy Jackson film attains a fresh coming- for-age male breakthrough performance. He's quite funny and also quite the gentleman, but some of his stubborn dialogue is a downer. Emma Watson ignores the commotion that surrounds her about her Brit qualities. Instead, she perfected to be on an American shoes like how Meryl Streep mastered plenty of accents on many of her films. Lastly, Ezra Miller gave a great feel of being a profound alpha-male bravado. It's funny that the trio develop an unadulterated chemistry which is appealing in the eyes and ears. It's all in shape and form, there's no denying it.
The director, Steven Chbosky (based on his book) has written an incredible and profound story with believable materials and voice. He attributes Cameron Crowe with John Hughes into something less generic. The chosen setting for the film was 1990s, but to make it more alive, Chbosky hired Michael Brook to pump some great tunes including The Smiths and David Bowie. As a whole, the film has proved itself to be perhaps a Golden Globe nominee.