Nuanced, live wire performances; beautiful..if you were ever a kid, you'll be moved

Rating: 10/10 (28 September 2012)

This stands with the best of the classic movies about growing up - The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, and Some Kind of Wonderful, while all the while being loads more real than any of those films. This is a funny (easily a dozen times where the audience laughed out loud), profoundly moving, and inspiring piece of film.
The performances are near-perfect - beautifully raw, genuine, and lacking in self-consciousness. Any doubt that Emma Watson can't be anything but Hermione goes out the window here; she's lovely, aching, alive, and spot-on. Logan Lerman has a palpable vulnerability that makes you root for him to become the creative being you know he can be. Ezra Miller has the sweetly manic energy, charisma and bright smile that gives his character a live-wire presence.
And kudos for touching on the importance that surroundings have on young lives: the city and it's features (tunnels, bridges, hillsides) become effective drivers of what these kids are going through as they emerge into fully emotional beings. Buy a ticket, and see this one. Now.