Extremely touching film infinitely awesome!

Rating: 10/10 (19 April 2013)

The biggest issue with this movie, I would have to admittedly say, is the fact that is such an underrated film. Not to say anything against Best Picture nominee, Silver Linings Playbooks, but I would myself place an Oscar nomination for The Perks of Being a Wallflower over SLP for a Best Picture nomination. That being said, let the review be underway A young and troubled freshman by the name of Charlie (Logan Lerman) attempts to make his way through high school and gain friends as he falls in love with Sam (Emma Watson) The story is definitely based off Steven Chbosky's novel which he writes and directs in this case. Normally, having the author of a book direct a film can often come out horrible as a reader's interpretation is completely different from a film director's. Also, a book must be structured and paced differently to that of a film and in most cases, an author directing a film would more so attempt to direct it like a film. It's not the case here, thankfully! The direction in this film is definitely marvellous and the way the characters were presented is truly fantastic. Having never read the book myself, I was almost immediately fascinated by the film and a while into the film, I knew I would love it. Despite only reaching a 100 minute run time, I would personally have loved the film to be another half hour longer.
The film is a truly moving one and is not an average popcorn flick. Very powerful emotionally, at least for someone like me, who has experienced a similar life to that of Charlie, it can definitely be hard to re-watch this film, despite its complete brilliance.
With good performances throughout, from Logan Lerman to Emma Watson, this film adds further credibility. If I were to pick a fault with this film, I'd really have a tough time sitting through thinking but perhaps, if a few characters, mainly Mary and Sam were elaborated a bit more, there may have been a bit more of an emotional connection but for Sam, it doesn't tend to matter much as her character is a likable one and the screen time she has is relatively long.
In a year that saw the releases of films like Django Unchained, The Hobbit, Skyfall, The Dark Knight Rises, The Avengers and Looper, I myself would personally rank it above all those great films of the year except for my personal favourite Django Unchained.
Fantastic direction, excellent writing and an excellent knowledge of book to movie adaptations from the book's very author, The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a brilliantly acted story and is emotionally powerful yet displays elements of other films. A fantastic film, a near masterpiece of the decade. One of the most underrated films of this new decade.